ANJ publishes semi‑annual French online gambling report showing H1 2026 sports‑led growth

The French National Gambling Authority published its semi‑annual report on 15 October 2026 showing the authorised online market generated €1.45bn in gross gaming revenue in the first half of 2026, an 11% increase versus H1 2025. The regulator also reported that the total gambling sector excluding casinos and gaming clubs produced €5.66bn in GGR in H1 2026, a 0.5% rise on H1 2025 compared with +4.1% a year earlier.

Market overview and headline figures

The ANJ (French National Gambling Authority) notes a slowdown in overall market growth despite robust online expansion. Online activity now represents 25.6% of the market excluding casinos and gaming clubs. Active player accounts in the authorised online market reached 5.85m in H1 2026, a 24% increase on the prior year.

The report separates the performance of licensed online operators from activities run by Française des Jeux United (FDJU) and Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU). It states FDJU and PMU activities declined while authorised online gaming — chiefly sports betting, poker and online horse racing — drove market growth.

Sports betting: the engine of online growth

Online sports betting accounted for the bulk of the online segment's expansion. The ANJ records that online sports betting's GGR rose strongly in the period, with overall online market GGR reaching €1.45bn (+11%). The regulator highlights a concentration of growth in June, coinciding with the start of the FIFA World Cup.

Stakes across online products rose by 10.6% to €6.6bn for the six‑month period. Stakes increased by 4% from January to May and then spiked +47% in June. The month of June alone accounted for 69% of the year‑on‑year growth in active player accounts between June 2025 and June 2026, a jump the ANJ links to intensified operator promotions: acquisition bonuses in June 2026 were almost four times those of June 2025.

Online sports betting data for the 2025 season presented in the report show wagers of €11.52bn for the calendar year, up 12% year‑on‑year, with GGR of €1.77bn (+10.4%). Unique players in that market numbered 3.65m, an 8.6% increase.

Football remains dominant, representing 54.9% of football bets or €6.32bn, up 10.2%, and producing €1.05bn in GGR (+11.8%). The Champions League expanded from 137 to 189 matches over the calendar year (+38%), and Champions League bets rose 48.6%. The new Club World Cup generated 63 matches and €248m in bets, an average of €3.9m per match, comparable with the Champions League per‑match average of €4.4m.

With €829m in bets over the season, the Champions League became the football competition projected to generate the most bets in 2025, ahead of Ligue 1, La Liga and the Premier League. The Champions League final between Paris Saint‑Germain and Inter Milan produced €38.2m in bets, while the Club World Cup final between Chelsea and Paris Saint‑Germain generated €26.7m.

Tennis was the second most bet sport with €2.65bn in wagers, a 16% rise year‑on‑year. Grand Slam events represented 26.6% of tennis bets, ATP Masters 1000 events 16.6%, and bets on the WTA rose 33%.

Less prominent football competitions also contributed materially: 93 competitions each accounting for less than 2% of total football betting nevertheless combined for €2.3bn, or 37% of football betting. These competitions are more often bet live — 48% live vs 34% for major competitions — with South American, Asian and Oceanian leagues filling evening and morning French viewing slots respectively.

The ANJ flags a protection concern: analysis for H1 2026 shows players identified as excessive or manifestly excessive gamblers account for more than 80% of bets on leagues in Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia. The regulator adds that this outcome largely reflects lower recreational interest in those competitions rather than an inherent addiction risk in the competitions themselves.

For in‑play or period‑specific bets (halftime, quartertime, set, or game), the ANJ found that in Q2 2026 80%–89% of such bets were placed by excessive or manifestly excessive gamblers, a pattern the regulator says could justify stronger player‑protection measures on authorised platforms. The report suggests integrating protection measures into the rules for authorised betting platforms.

Poker, horse racing and operator performance

Poker's GGR in H1 2026 reached €290m, up 13.4%, with average daily wagers rising year‑on‑year and 39% across the half‑year. Horse racing stakes increased 16% to €920m, described by ANJ as the sector's strongest growth since 2021, despite only a 3% rise in the number of players.

FDJU's GGR in France fell 2% in H1 2026 to €3.43bn, after contributing 2.7 percentage points to market growth in H1 2025. The report attributes much of FDJU's decline to lottery games, which accounted for €64m of the drop; draw games fell 7.6%, a change FDJU linked to fewer and smaller Euromillions jackpots and reduced retail footfall during a summer heatwave.

PMU's exclusive‑rights activities declined for a third consecutive year: stakes fell 3.8% to €3.1bn and GGR declined 5.8% to €782m.

Return to player and margins

The report cites figures reported by Journal des Casinos for return‑to‑player (RTP) across operators, noting the RTP cap of 85% average per year per operator. The aggregate RTP stood at 84.67% in 2025. The ANJ records a sharp seasonal swing: RTP peaked at 94.5% in September 2025 then fell to 82.3% in October and 74.2% in November, a sequence the regulator says "seems to reflect an adjustment of odds at the end of the financial year."

"Online sports betting remains the driving force of the online segment, ahead of poker and horse racing," the French National Gambling Authority writes in the report.

The ANJ's semi‑annual results underline that licensed online activity is currently the main growth vector for France's authorised gambling market, even as legacy retail and exclusive‑rights segments show contraction. The report balances growth metrics with repeated notes on player protection and the concentration of risk among excessive gamblers.

ANJ report on the regulator's findings includes the full tables and methodology, and the ANJ's analysis of sports betting detail complements market coverage in our sports section and recent industry briefs in news.