ARJEL Releases 2012 Performance Report

French internet betting regulator ARJEL released a performance report for the year ending December 31st, 2012, noting that the country's licensed operators shrank from 35 to 22 during the period.

Highlights in the report were:

• Total player account deposits amounted to €988 million (2011: €1.06 Billion) and €435 million was withdrawn (2011: €457 million)

Sportsbetting highlights were:

• Active sportsbetting player accounts have grown 9% from 705,000 in 2011 to 765,000 in 2012

• Sportsbets placed grew 19% to €705 million (2011: €592 million)

• Gross gaming revenues also grew 19% to €138 million (2011: €115 million)

• Player rate of return (excluding bonuses) was down 1% to 80% in 2012

• 59% of the sportsbetting market was attributed to football betting, followed by tennis at 19% and basketball at 8%

Internet Horse Betting highlights were:

• Active player accounts showed a marginal increase of 1% to 509,000 from 502,000 in 2011

• Bets staked in 2012 amounted to €1,124 million (2011: €1,034 million), an increase of 9%

• Gross gaming revenues rose 8.5% to €263 million (2011: €243 million)

• Player rate of return (excluding bonuses) rose 1% to 77% in 2012

Internet Poker highlights were:

• Active player accounts amounted to 1,717,000 (2011: 1,686,000), up 2%

• Cash game stakes amounted to €6,182 million (2011: 6,534 million), down 5%

• Tournament admissions rose 21% from €1,159 million in 2011 to €1,397 million

• Gross gaming revenue showed a decline of 5% from €314 million in 2011 to €297 million in 2012

• Player rate of return was static at 96%