France: Traditional gaming grows and online gaming decreases in first semester of the year

Activity of monopolistic operators (FDJ and PMU): Great impulse of lotteries and horse-racing betting at points of sale.

The bets registered by Française Des Jeux (FDJ) continued their growth rate in the first half of 2022 and amounted to more than 10,000 million euros compared to 9,100 million euros in the first half of 2021, that is, an increase 10% between the two periods.

Gross gaming revenue from FDJ activities reached €3.2 billion in the first half of 2022, an increase of 12% compared to the first half of the previous year (+€354 million). This strong growth is due exclusively to lottery activities (instant lottery and draw games), whose bets will increase by 17% to reach 8,000 million euros in this period, while those dedicated to sports betting fell by 11%, up to 2,000 million euros.

These lottery returns are linked in particular to the renewal of the Amigo game at points of sale and, more generally, to the continuous growth of lottery games (Loto and EuroMillions) whose bets amounted to 3,000 million euros in the first semester of the year 2022 (+19% growth compared to the same period of the previous year) and scratch cards whose bets increased to 4,900 million euros in the 1st semester of 2022 (+15.1% growth compared to the 1st semester 2021) around its flagship products such as Cash.

These FDJ results should also be put into perspective with the increase in marketing spend reported by the operator for the first half of 2022: €176 million in total (+13% compared to the first half of 2021), with an increase +25% in spending on lottery marketing (€86M) and a -6% drop in sports betting (€54M).

PMU holdings reached €3.9bn in the 1st half of 2022, 18% more than in the 1st half of 2021 and are close to the level of activity reached before the health crisis.

GGR is also on the rise and reaches €969M (+15%). The lifting of the latest sanitary restrictions at points of sale has clearly returned horse racing bettors to the physical network, to the detriment of online gambling, particularly due to the higher prize pools generated by its pooling system. Profits. This renewed impulse is part of a context of renewal of the gaming offer and the deployment of a marketing strategy aimed at making horse-racing betting more attractive and accessible in order to renew and diversify the pool of players.

 Activity of licensed online gaming operators: decrease observed in the three gaming segments

The competitive online gambling sector posted a GGR of less than €1.1bn at the end of the first half of 2022, down 11% from the first half of the previous year. Since 2013 there has not been a drop in billing in the first semester between two consecutive years.

This drop in GGR affects each segment but is due to different factors for each of them. The number of active player accounts (AGA) is down 12% with 3.7 million players. Online sports betting amounted to 3,969 million euros in the first half of 2022, 8% less than in the same period of 2021. GGR reached 685 million euros, 12% less than in the first half of 2021. Without However, this fall must be qualified, the first half of 2021 has registered exceptional performances due to an attractive calendar, especially driven by the European Football Championship.

The Soccer World Cup, which will exceptionally take place at the end of the year, from November 20 to December 18, 2022, is the highlight of the sports betting market in 2023, which will allow us to gauge the real dynamics of the sector.

The online horse racing betting segment registered bets of €727 million, 17% less than in the first half of 2021, and a GGR of €169 million, 18% less than the same period last year. . Undoubtedly, this decrease is mainly linked to the return of the players to the points of sale.

Online poker GGR reached €216 million, representing a 3% decrease compared to the first half of the previous year. However, this activity remains at a high level if we compare it with the situation prior to the health crisis, after the records registered during the periods of confinement.

With a 10% drop in PBJ between the first half of 2020 and 2022, the market is however tending to consolidate after having lost some of the occasional players that came to the market during the lockdown periods.

Online operators' marketing spend in the first half of 2022 amounted to €57.2 million, 46% less than in the first half of 2021. The record marketing investments seen in the first half of 2021, in particular on the occasion of the Euro 2020 soccer championship, partly explain such a gap. Holding the World Cup during the year-end holidays, a time when advertising spending is traditionally more expensive, undoubtedly encourages operators to preserve their investment capacity. We also noted during this semester a reallocation of financial rewards budgets from the acquisition objective to the retention objective. After implementing a relatively expensive player acquisition strategy in 2021, operators now seem to be investing in their retention.

The Soccer World Cup and the ambitious 2022 marketing budgets announced for the second half should allow the sports betting market to regain some momentum.

This semester also saw a reallocation of financial reward budgets from the acquisition objective to the retention objective. After implementing a relatively expensive player acquisition strategy in 2021, operators now seem to be investing in their retention. The Soccer World Cup and the ambitious 2022 marketing budgets announced for the second half should allow the sports betting market to regain some momentum.