Online sports betting, horse racing and poker achieved "
historic performances
" in 2020, which boosted the annual turnover of the online gaming sector by 22% to 1.74 billion euros, according to a report from the National Gaming Authority (ANJ) released Thursday.
Unlike the “
hard
” network (casinos, Parisian clubs and points of sale) which suffered from the health crisis, online gambling has confirmed its continued growth since 2010, according to the ANJ.
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Stakes placed in 2020 on sports competitions reached 5.3 billion euros, "
the highest amount of stakes generated over a year since the opening to competition in 2010
", according to the ANJ.
With 940 million euros of gross income (+ 7%), that is to say of revenue after deduction of the gains, the online sports betting market remains the dominant activity in the sector.
New players
At the same time, the sports betting population continues to increase with more than one million additional players compared to 2019. They are now 4.4 million.
Online horse racing betting has also grown strongly and total stakes of 1.47 billion euros (+ 33%).
Gross gaming revenue reached 354 million euros (+ 31%).
The closure of points of sale such as PMU counters has led to a 5% increase in new online players.
As for online poker, it wins with a turnover that soars to 446 million euros (+ 64%).
"
The peak of activity owes a lot to the impact of the containment measures, and more particularly of the first containment,
" notes the ANJ.
Online poker has benefited from the significant recruitment of new players in 2020 that it intends to retain.
The number of participants in 2020 rose to 1.8 million (+ 53%).
For the president of the ANJ, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, this good health of the online gaming sector should be an opportunity for operators to strengthen their initiatives to prevent gambling addictions and to “
protect minors
”.
"
They must better identify the players at risk and help them, provide tools for moderating playing time or bets, and guarantee responsible promotional strategies
," she said.
The ANJ, which succeeded ARJEL in June 2020, is now responsible for online games but also games of the Française des Jeux and PMU, the 235 racetracks and the 202 casinos and gaming clubs.