France Gambles €690m During World Cup

According to brand new statistics, punters in France wagered a massive €690 million during the 2018 edition of the World Cup in Russia. Betting groups in France have reported that double the usual number of bets was received during the global sporting event, which is considered the largest event in the annual football calendar.

The gaming regulator of France, ARJEL, has noted that over €381 million was wagered during the event across 12 of the nation’s licensed online betting operators. A further €309 million was also bet at 27,000 retail outlets across the country. These bets consisted of €17 million in prop bets, €310 million in late round stage bets, and a whopping €363 million in group stage play wagers.

€67.2m Spent on Final Match

Naturally, the event that drew the most bets from French residents was the final between France and Croatia. According to ARJEL’s recent report, over €67.2 million was wagered on that game alone. In total, World Cup matches in which the French team participated attracted €180 million in cash bets – over a quarter of the money wagered on the entire Cup.

France’s betting numbers for the World Cup were impressive indeed, but there are still other countries that managed to bet far more on their chosen teams during the tournament. Chinese punters beat French bettors to the post by far, with China’s national sports lottery handling bets of RMB46.34 billion (US$6.9 billion) – almost four times the figure that was wagered in 2014.

Chinese Bets Outweigh France’s

Participation from China was staggering, with payouts for the aforementioned bets reaching over RMB33.8 billion and the government earning revenues of RMB8.34 billion (or US$1.24 billion). Surprisingly, these numbers actually fell short of the nation’s expectation of RMB50 billion, but regardless, the results are still impressive.

The final World Cup game saw Chinese punters wagering RMB2.74 billion on their favourite sides, and average daily bets for the nation reached RMB1.4 billion. According to local regulators, this is what the Chinese national lottery was earning the week before the Cup began.

Wagering on any sports in China is heavily restricted, with only the sports lottery and a few other state-run choices available for the nation’s 1.4 billion residents. China has also recently cracked down on illicit betting, although it is well aware that its punters will continue to find new channels through which to gamble.