For all the noise around online sports betting, the old French gambling instinct still seems to belong to the lottery. New market data suggests that, in France, the draw of numbered tickets remains stronger than the pull of football odds or poker tables. Blask, an iGaming analytics company, said the lottery accounts for approximately 78 per cent of total gambling search demand in France, far ahead of other verticals.
France’s lottery business continued to grow in 2024, with the gambling regulator ANJ reporting revenue of €5.8bn, up 5 per cent on the year. Across the wider sector, gross gambling revenue rose 4.7 per cent to €14bn, meaning lottery accounted for about 41 per cent of the total market, including sports betting. FDJ United, the former Française des Jeux and still France’s dominant lottery operator, reported more than €7bn in gross gaming revenue across its total business for the first time in 2024.
An old game with a deep hold
Nearly one in two French adults gambles, according to the ANJ, but the market has long been shaped by monopoly lottery products sold in bars, tobacconists and supermarkets, while online casino remains illegal in France, unlike in many other European markets.
In 2024, online sports betting alone brought in almost €1.8bn, rising 19 per cent over the year, helped by a packed sporting calendar that included Euro 2024 and the Paris Olympics. Even so, lottery revenue remained more than twice as large as the entire competitive online market combined.
FDJ United’s business still relies heavily on lottery products, even after the group expanded abroad through deals including the acquisition of Kindred. In February, the company said its French lottery and retail betting arm had been steadier in 2025 than its online betting and gaming division, which had been hit harder by tighter regulation and tax changes. The group said lottery revenue rose 2.2 per cent in 2025, even as the wider business came under pressure.
From Euromillions to cow pat lotto
The French affection for lottery can also look faintly absurd.
Last summer, Fressin, a village in northern France, turned a cow into the star of a local lottery game. Residents bought numbered squares on a field and waited for Victoire the cow to choose where to relieve herself. The winning square took the prize.
“This was really a beautiful day,” one volunteer told SiGMA News at the time. “People picked their squares, and there were prizes depending on where she did her business.”
The game, known as lotto bouse or cow pat lotto, sold almost all its tickets. The episode was unusual, but it captured something real. In France, lottery is not always dressed up as high-tech entertainment or a slick betting product. It can be communal, low-stakes and even slightly ridiculous.
That may be one reason the category still commands such broad appeal. Sports betting has grown fast online, especially among younger men, and the ANJ says online sports betting was the biggest driver of digital market growth in 2024. But lottery remains the more established part of the market, for now.
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