French gambling revenue rises by 35% in the first quarter.

Betting increased exponentially in Q1, seeing the French gaming sector’s revenue grow to €587m. That’s a 35% increase in comparison to last year.

Sports betting saw the largest change, increasing by 78.8%.

These numbers should come as no surprise, as sports betting around the world was subject to suspension. The takeaway could be that interest in sports betting has not decreased in the slightest, as players were quick to jump right back into the game.

In France’s sports betting sector, players wagered an incredible €2.8bn, leading to €357m in revenue (minus €172m in levies).

There was a huge increase in the creation of sports betting accounts.

Partially attributing to the revenue increase, account creation grew by 29.2%, equating to 2.5m total sports betting accounts. That number should only increase over the summer because of the Olympics and Euro 2020.

There was also a 19.1% increase in active players (of the accounts that were created), which equals 3.1m players for the quarter.

The largest sport to bet on was football.

Players wagered €1.3bn on football bets. Basketball follows, but nowhere close to that number, with just €362m. Then tennis at €340m and rugby at €49m.

Betting for horse racing increased, as well, by 59.9% with €481m staked. Active horse racing betting accounts increased by 13.3% and revenue increased by 48%, equating to 402,000 accounts and €110m.

Lastly, poker revenue saw a considerable increase by 23% in comparison to Q1 of 2020. Active player accounts also grew by 9$ up to 991,000 accounts.