ARJEL Statistics Regarding French Gamblers

Mobile gambling on the rise but online poker continues to drop

Arjel is a major French gaming regulator that is constantly looking at the gambling industry within the country and beyond it. France is a one of the major markets in the world and the stats released by Arjel can provide valuable information regarding the players within the market and also from other big gambling European countries, such as the United Kingdom.

The regulator has recently released the statistics of the second quarter of 2013 regarding the gambling industry in France and the common patters for the players. The figures show a decrease in the number of active accounts as well as a tendency for older players to enjoy the gambling options. In 2011, 58% of the number of players under 35 years old, but the percentage went down in 2012 to 56% and the trend continued in the first half of 2013 to now reach 54%.

On the other side of the story, the number of sports bettors between the ages of 18 and 24 increased from 24% to 28%. The number of young poker players, between 18 and 24 years of age, decreased from 21% to 18% according to the stats while the number of active gambling accounts owned by women remained the same at 13%.

Mobile gambling growth

A trend that has been visible across the gambling industry is mobile gaming and the increasing number of players that opt for this option. Arjel reveals the fact that French gamblers are also riding the mobile wave, with the number of accounts for online sports betting now representing 25% of all wagers – 21% for smartphones and 4% for tablets. This represents a significant growth from 18% in the second quarter last year. Mobile horseracing betting has also increased to reach 18% from 14% last year.

Despite the decrease in poker activity mentioned above, mobile poker has seen the biggest increase from the same period last year. 28% of poker players are connected via a mobile device according to the research, up from 18%. Tablets for mobile poker represent a percentage of 7%, a rise from 4%.

Sports betting increases

Although the Euro 2012 gave the sports betting turnover figures a boost last quarter, the numbers continued to grow by 6% to reach a total of €198 million. Football remains the most popular sport for French bettors and it accounts for 53% of all bets placed this quarter while tennis comes in second with 28%. Basketball wagers represent 8% while other sports follow with under 5%. The total betting revenue went up by €1 million to reach €36 million and the return rate remained the same, 84%.

The number of active accounts for online sports betting fell by 2% to reach 118,000 but Arjel considers this to be a result of the casual gamblers that only registered for the Euro 2012 summer. The number of accounts increased by 2,000 during the quarterfinals of the Champions League, as more players wanted to get in on the action over the internet.

The betting operators licensed in France significantly decreased their marketing budgets; a change also associated with the Euro 2012.

Online poker revenue falls 9%

Online poker continues to cause some serious concerns to the operators in France given the fact that the cash game stakes dropped 16% to reach €1.27 billion and the average weekly total reached €96 million. One week during June saw an all-time low average of €85 million while overall revenue went down by 9% and reached €63 million.

The number of tournament players decreased by 5% which resulted in the first decline in tournament fees since the market first started, falling to €341 million from €345 million. It is the sixth consecutive quarter that sees a lowering number of active poker players.

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