SBTech prepares French market entry in Q1 2019

France will be the provider’s 21st regulated market and swiftly follows its entry into the US, after partnership agreements with prestigious casino brands in states including New Jersey and Mississippi.

A key pillar of SBTech’s strategy is to enter all major regulated markets, and the regulated French online sports betting space, open since 2010, has developed into one of the biggest in Europe.

Third quarter numbers released by French regulator ARJEL earlier this month demonstrated a 28% year-on-year increase in iGaming turnover to €2.78 billion and a 21% rise in gross gaming revenue (GGR) to €271 million.

Sports betting has seen the largest gains, with turnover rising 81% to €995m, representing the vertical’s highest quarterly growth rate since the opening of the market. Figures for Q3 saw sports betting record a 40% rise in GGR to €149m. Football was the most popular sport with turnover of €626.9m, followed by tennis with €258.4m and horse racing at €254m.

SBTech will continue to expand its regulated market footprint with further entry into several regulating and emerging markets including Sweden, South Africa and Pennsylvania in 2019 and beyond.

Richard Carter, CEO, SBTech, said: “Our strategy is to enter every leading regulated market and 2018 has seen our presence grow significantly across key regulated and newly regulated territories.

“France has emerged as one of the strongest and most mature online sports betting markets in Europe, delivering consistent quarterly and annual growth. We firmly believe, however, that there is room for further growth and that the operators which are poised to integrate our platform and technology solutions next year will reap sizeable benefits.”