Gross gaming revenue in France was 3.5% higher year-on-year in H1.

GGR in France increased 3.5% year-on-year to €5.7 billion ($6.7 billion) in the first half of 2025, helped by growth within the country’s online sports betting market.

National regulator l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) said revenue was ahead of the €5.5 billion in the same period last year. The figures did not include land-based casinos and gaming clubs as these results were published separately.  

Gambling revenue in France has grown steadily year-on-year in H1 during the past few years. This has been partly due to growth in the online gambling sector, with revenue rising again in H1, by 6% to €1.4 billion. However, the ANJ said this increase “masks” certain trends in the market.

Double-digit growth for online sports betting in France

Online sports betting revenue jumped 10% year-on-year to €961 million, helped by a 15% rise in stakes to €6 billion. Unique player accounts also climbed 10% during the half.

The ANJ noted that this was despite the lack of a major, global sports event in H1 this year. In 2024, H1 included the early stages of football’s Euro 2024 football tournament, where in the same period this year, there was no such competition.

Incidentally, football remained the most popular sport among players in France, drawing 52% of all online bets. Tennis followed with 26%, then basketball on 9% and rugby 2%. The remaining 11% of wagers were split between other sports.

However, as noted by ANJ, this growth was not apparent within other areas of the online gambling market. Internet poker revenue declined 4% to €246 million. Cash game poker revenue was 15% lower at €47 million although other formats remained steady. The overall decline also came despite a 10% rise in unique players, which ANJ said was helped by cross-selling the product.

Elsewhere, online horse racing betting revenue was level at €174 million. Stakes here were 1% higher at €795 million but grew at a slower rate than in H1 of the previous two years. It was also noted that unique online horse racing players fell 3% year-on-year.

FDJ H1 revenue tops €3.5 billion after Kindred acquisition

ANJ also published separate figures for La Française des Jeux (FDJ), which completed its acquisition of Kindred Group in October last year. This helped push revenue up 19% in H1 to €4.4 billion.

Sports betting remained its primary source of revenue at €3.5 billion, up 4% on the previous year. However, driven by the Kindred acquisition, online betting and gaming revenue hiked 458% to €703 million. International lottery revenue for the period declined by 9% to €168 million.

Finally, ANJ referenced Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), which, like FDJ, had its results posted separately. In H1, revenue at PMU topped €830 million, which was 2.6% behind the same period in 2024. Stakes were also down 4.2% to €3.2 billion.

PMU had a tougher time in the first quarter, during which revenue dropped 4% and stakes 5.5%. However, it saw some level of revenue in Q2, although revenue was still down 1.3% and wagers 3%.