ANJ: French sports betting stakes rise 12% to €11.5bn in 2025, with regulator flagging excessive-risk patterns

France's national gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), says sports betting stakes grew 12% to €11.5bn in 2025, while gross gaming revenue rose 10.4% to €1.7bn. The regulator noted that the increase came without a major sporting event in the year. Because 2024 was boosted by the football Euro tournament, which generated €438m in bets, it said growth ranges between 10% and 19% depending on the criteria used.

Football remained the leading sport, taking nearly 55% of stakes, or €6.32bn. It accounted for almost half of the growth in stakes and two-thirds of the growth in GGR. ANJ linked part of the rise to a broader offering: the Champions League expanded from 137 matches in 2024 to 189 in 2025, a 38% increase, while stakes on the competition rose 48.6%. Three-quarters of that increase came from the additional matches. The new Club World Cup recorded stakes of €3.9m per match, against €4.4m for the Champions League. The biggest matches of the year were PSG's Champions League and Club World Cup finals, at €38.2m and €26.7m.

The regulator explained that stakes reflect punter activity, whereas GGR also depends on operator pricing and the unpredictability of results. Tennis stakes rose 16% but GGR only 8.6%, and rugby stakes rose 11.4% against GGR growth of 3.4%. Volleyball saw stakes up 21% and GGR up 47.2%. ANJ attributed these gaps to shifts in margins rather than changes in behaviour. Implied return to player stood at 83.4% for football, 84.8% for basketball, 85.2% for volleyball, 86.7% for tennis and 90% for rugby.

French bookmakers face an annual RTP cap of 85%, and the sector's figure was 84.67% in 2025. Results favoured bettors in September, lifting that month's RTP to 94.5% and the cumulative figure to 85.9%. Operators then lowered RTP to 82.3% in October and 74.2% in November, bringing the cumulative figure back to 84.67%. Individual sportsbooks are monitored separately.

On player protection, ANJ analysed football betting in the first half of 2026. Excessive bettors made up more than 80% of bets on the Brazilian, Saudi Arabian, Japanese and Australian leagues, while recreational bettors favoured major events such as the 2026 World Cup. Excessive bettors also accounted for 80% to 89% of in-play stakes, depending on the sport. ANJ said the findings could support stronger player-protection requirements for licensed platforms. Live betting made up 48% of stakes on secondary competitions and up to 50-58% on European second divisions and lesser-known leagues.