World Cup betting rush masks French market slowdown
The 2026 FIFA World Cup appears to have saved France’s regulated gambling market from stalling, pushing total GGR for H1 to just over 0.5% more year-over-year. Between January-June, total market GGR excluding casinos came in at €5.66bn, which was a sharp deceleration compared to the same period in…
The 2026 FIFA World Cup appears to have saved France’s regulated gambling market from stalling, pushing total GGR for H1 to just over 0.5% more year-over-year. Between January-June, total market GGR excluding casinos came in at €5.66bn, which was a sharp deceleration compared to the same period in 2025 that saw a 4.1% growth YoY. Online GGR now appears to be the most significant growth engine, generating a total of €1.45bn or 11% more YoY. World Cup kick off caused a spike While online sports betting GGR wasn’t far behind at €995m and 11.6% more YoY, the numbers spiked in June in time for the World Cup kick-off. Stakes in June skyrocketed by 47% YoY, compared to the modest 4% growth for the January-May period. The total value of stakes for the reporting period amounted to €6.6bn. Meanwhile, poker also appeared to be an outlier. Online poker GGR went up 13.4% YoY to €290m following a near-flat, half-year period. Growth was seen throughout H1, with Active Player Accounts (APAs) jumping by 38.5% to 2.3 million. Compared to sports betting APAs, which jumped 69% YoY in June but were up only 11% YoY in May, poker providers seem to have noticeably been expanding their player base faster. Offline giants under pressure GGR from exclusive retail FDJ United and Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) activities was down 2% and 5.8% YoY respectively. FDJ United GGR from lottery and retail sports dropped to €3.43bn, with lottery draw games bringing a noticeable -7.6% drag contributed to “fewer and lower Euromillions jackpots” and weaker footfall in the second quarter due to higher-than-average weather temperatures. With FDJ representing 61% of the total French market GGR, the operator has indicated that it will aim to stabilise its France-facing activities by the end of the 2026 financial year, according to French gambling regulator ANJ. Meanwhile, PMU, the pari-mutuel horse racing betting operator, recorded a decline in GGR for the third consecutive year, down 5.8% to €782m – a gradual acceleration in decline from the -2.6% recorded in H1 2025. PMU is currently undergoing state-backed restructuring through the Pacte PMU 2030 plan, which aims to modernise the French horse racing sector. PMU’s own contributions to the sport will drop to €725m in 2026 compared to last year’s €802m commitment. The operator’s transformation will be led by Cyrille Giraudat, who was appointed as Chief Executive Officer at the end of 2025.