In France and the L’Autorite Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) regulator has announced that the nation’s aggregated first-quarter online gaming turnover increased by 35% year-on-year to hit €587 million ($715 million).

The organization used an official Monday press release to declare that the advance for the first three months of 2021 came courtesy of a swell of 19% year-on-year in active player numbers to 3.1 million with these aficionados having wagered record amounts via online sportsbetting while helping the remote poker vertical ‘to return to normal’.

Sportsbetting success:

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin serves as the Chair for the ANJ and she stated that the French online sportsbetting sector experienced ‘the most spectacular growth in stakes’ with its €2.2 billion ($2.7 billion) first-quarter tally representing a boost of 79% year-on-year. She moreover asserted that this reckoning equated to ‘the highest amounts of stakes recorded in a quarter’ as active player accounts improved by 29% to hit nearly 2.5 million.

Read a statement from Falque-Pierrotin…

“It is very likely that the growth in this activity will continue at a high rate this year due to the two major competitions, the UEFA European Football Championship and the Summer Olympic Games.”

Poker progress:

Regarding online poker and the ANJ asserted that the French market is ‘returning to normality’ following the coronavirus-hit financials for the same period in 2020 with its rise of 23% year-on-year in aggregated first-quarter turnover representing a record. The body furthermore pronounced that this vertical experienced an associated 9% surge in active player numbers to 991,000 for the initial three months of 2021 and took its combined receipts past €120 million ($146 million).

Falque-Pierrotin’s statement read…

“The online poker results for the next quarter should however interrupt this dynamic since they are to be calculated in comparison with the second quarter of 2020, which showed an exceptional level of activity due to the first lockdown.”

Horseracing high:

The ANJ furthermore highlighted the fact that the six licensed horseracing operators in France had processed €110 million ($134 million) in online wagers during the first quarter of 2021, which equated to a surge of 48% year-on-year, while the sector as a whole saw its stakes improve by 60% to hit an all-time high of €481 million ($586 million). Again, active player numbers were cited as being crucial with the vertical having experienced a 13% lift to around 402,000.

In-person dip:

With regards to this sector and Falque-Pierrotin finished by proclaiming that ‘point of sale’ horserace wagering across France had been seriously impacted by the closure of almost 40% of units owing to public health concerns related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. As a result, she disclosed that this particular segment saw its aggregated first-quarter stakes plummet by 23% year-on-year to about €1.3 billion ($1.6 billion).