Operator News
France – La Française des Jeux sees best growth for 15 years
By Phil - 17 February 2020
La Française des Jeux (FDJ) experienced its best growth since 2004 last year with the total number of bets placed with the French operator increasing by nine per cent to €17.239bn with all of its gaming sectors experiencing growth.
The lowest increase was felt by the company’s draw games (Loto and Euromillions), up 6.4 per cent reaching €5.480bn in bets. Scratch games increased by 7.7 per cent to €8.205bn, due to 11 new product launches and two revivals of point-of-sale games. The Crossword Puzzle family became the sixth best performing FDJ game with bets over €1bn.
The lottery (draw games and instant games) recorded an overall increase of 7.2 per cent for cumulative bets of €13.384bn. These bets equated to 79 per cent of the group’s bets with this increase being the best of the last five years. The winnings of lottery players increased by seven per cent for a return rate to players almost stable at 65.7 per cent. Digitised wagers on instant games were up 30 per cent and represent nearly six per cent of lottery wagers.
FDJ redistributed €11.7bn to customers, a rate of almost 68 per cent. A figure similar to that of 2018, and a very slight increase in 2019.
After a year 2018 rich in sporting events including the Football World Cup and the Winter Olympic Games, the sports betting sector was still popular in 2019 thanks to the attractiveness of annual events such as the Champions League, Ligue 1 and Roland Garros, and the success of one-off events such as the African Cup of Nations, the Women’s World Cup in France and the Rugby World Cup.
ParionsSport recorded growth of 16.1 per cent to €3.538bn, despite the absence of a competition such as the Football World Cup. This sector represents a little more than 20 per cent of the bets made by FDJ. ParionsSport Point de Vente increased by ten per cent, while the digital offer increased by 40 per cent. The latter represents almost 75 per cent of sports betting. The TRJ progresses in 2019 to reach 76.1 per cent.
Finally, the FDJ network is almost stable, with more than 30,000 points of sale. The vast majority come from the bar-tobacco-press network. The remuneration received by FDJ retailers reached €865m in 2019, an increase of 10.2 per cent compared to 2018.
