French online poker operator Winamax has received regulatory approval from l’Autorité de regulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) to launch a licensed online sportsbook.
ARJEL granted the operator a five year sports betting licence, which will enable Winamax to offer fixed odds betting and pari-mutuel betting services via its Winamax.fr domain. At the start of 2014,, Winamax CEO Alezandre Roos had began recruitment for a sports betting division at the start of 2014.
The decision to launch a new sportsbook was undertaken by managing directors Alexandre Roos and Christophe Schaaming, who assumed control of company operations from Canel Frichet in September 2013. Winamax is currently France’s largest poker operator but the vertical has been in a prolonged period of decline with the most recent report showing a 10% year-on-year fall in gross gaming revenue in Q1 2014 to €65m, down from €72m compared to the same period last year.
Total stakes also fell to €1.2bn, down 12% on the figure recorded in Q1 2013. “French online poker operators, even more than horse racing, are struggling to recover an activity which began its decline more than two years ago,” ARJEL said in a statement.