France’s Online Gaming Growth Was Offset by Suboptimal Performance by FDJ and PMU

L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), France’s gambling authority, has published a financial report detailing the industry’s performance for the first half of 2026. As it turns out, the total gross gaming revenue (excluding casinos and clubs) remained mostly stable at EUR 5.66 billion ($6.36 billion) (+0.5% year-on-year), highlighting a slowdown in the growth of gaming. Online Gaming Continued to Grow In the first half of 2026, the industry experienced an unprecedented player base of 5.85 million active online gaming accounts (an increase of 24% compared to H1 2025). While this does not equal the total number of players, since some have more than one account, it still suggests a growing interest in online gaming products. Thanks to this, the online gambling segment was the only contributor to the continued growth of the French gambling industry. Its total GGR reached EUR 1.45 billion ($1.63 billion), which is equivalent to a growth of 11% year-on-year. The ANJ said that online sports betting remained “the driving force” behind this segment, beating poker and horse racing. The sports betting growth was underpinned by the FIFA World Cup tournament, which led to a spike in bets. In June alone, bets increased by 47%, attesting to the popularity of the event. The World Cup was also responsible for a 69% increase in players between June 2025 and June 2026. At the same time, the online poker GGR hit EUR 290 million ($326.1 million), up 13.4% year-on-year, driven by the Sit&Go. Online horse betting, on the other hand, experienced a 16% increase in GGR to EUR 920 million ($1,034.4 million), up 16% year-on-year. This was notably the sector’s biggest growth since 2021. FDJ and PMU Experienced Setbacks In the meantime, FDJ United and Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), France’s operators under exclusive rights, experienced certain setbacks. Despite contributing to the market’s growth in H1 2025, FDJ’s GGR for H1 2026 decreased by 2% to EUR 3.43 billion (3.86 billion). The decrease was primarily driven by plummeting lottery performance caused by lower Euromillions jackpots and lower point-of-sale attendance. When not taking the Euromillions cycles into account, the lottery GGR increased by 1% according to the operator. PMU’s exclusive operations decreased for the third consecutive year, with the operator experiencing a 3.8% decrease in stakes to EUR 3.1 million ($3.49 million). This resulted in GGR of EUR 782 million ($879.25 million), down 5.8% year-on-year. As for the full year, the ANJ said that the 2026 performance will, in large part, depend on how FDJ United fares, considering that it represents 61% of the GGR excluding casinos and gaming clubs. At the same time, PMU is experiencing a period of transition due to changes in leadership and the development of a “Pact PMU 2030.”