PARIS: France’s regulated online gambling market remained ugly for its licensed operators in 2015, according to new figures from gaming regulator ARJEL.
The headline figure in ARJEL’s account of 2015’s market performance is the €5m operating loss collectively posted by French-licensed operators. Of all the verticals, only racing generated an operating surplus (€10m), while sportsbook and poker operators each lost around €7m.
Racing was also the only vertical in which a majority of operators (five of eight) posted an operating profit in 2015. Only five of the 11 sports betting operators reported an operating profit, while seven of the nine poker licensees reported an operating loss.
Since the regulated market’s launch in 2010, French-licensed operators have posted a total operating loss of €471m. Sports betting led the loss parade with €222m, followed by poker (€206m) and racing (€43m).
With profitability “still not at the rendezvous six years after” the regulated market launch, ARJEL suggested the keys to righting the ship were tax reform, permitting licensees to offer a wider variety of online products and shared poker liquidity with other European regulated markets.
