French Online Sports Betting Reached €11.5 Billion in 2025

France’s regulated online sports betting market recorded unprecedented activity in 2025, with total stakes reaching €11.52 billion, a 12% increase year-on-year, according to data published by the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), the country’s national gambling regulator. Operator gross gaming revenue (GGR) rose 10.4% over the same period to €1.766 billion, underscoring sustained momentum in one of Europe’s most closely monitored betting markets.

Sustained Growth Across a Three-Year Trajectory

The 2025 result extends a clear upward trajectory. Annual stakes climbed from €8.5 billion in 2023 to €10.3 billion in 2024, a 21% increase, before rising again in 2025. Notably, the latest expansion occurred in a year without a major international tournament such as a World Cup or European Championship, suggesting that underlying market drivers contributed meaningfully to the outcome.

Among those drivers was Paris Saint-Germain’s historic UEFA Champions League campaign. The club’s first Champions League title generated heightened engagement in domestic and continental football betting, with ANJ attributing a substantial share of the year’s stake growth to European competition markets. The regulator also noted an expansion in the number of football matches offered to bettors during the year.

Football remained the dominant sport by stakes volume, but the ANJ’s per-sport analysis highlighted the growing influence of tennis, where stakes increased by 16% in 2025. The regulator’s report also drew attention to niche betting offerings, including lower-tier leagues and granular in-play markets such as partial-period outcomes.

Regulatory Concerns Mount

The record figures arrive alongside heightened scrutiny of player behavior. In H2 2025, an ANJ-developed algorithm – described as the first of its kind in Europe – identified approximately 600,000 players exhibiting signs of problem gambling, and estimated that around 60% of online GGR may have been generated by high-risk players.

Subsequent analysis focusing on niche markets found that between 80% and 89% of stakes on partial-period bets in certain sports were placed by players in the two highest-risk categories. The regulator is now reportedly weighing a risk-based approach to sports betting rules, which could result in differentiated oversight of specific products and markets.

The broader context is also relevant: France’s total regulated gambling market reached €14.1 billion in GGR in 2025, growing 3%, with online activity serving as the primary growth engine. At the same time, operators face increasing fiscal pressure, with tax changes announced for the sector.