Online gambling in France overcame a sluggish Q4 to post modest annual revenue growth in 2014. Figures released Friday by French gambling regulator ARJEL show Q4 revenue falling 2% to €183.2m but the full year figure rose 6% to €725m, largely due to the 2014 FIFA World Cup’s effect on sports betting.

Sports betting turnover rose 22% to €322m in Q4 but revenue was flat at €54m. Horseracing turnover fell 2% to €272m but revenue nudged up 1% to €68m. Online poker continued its inexorable slide, with total revenue falling 6% to €61.2m. Tournament stakes rose 8% to €424m but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 12% decline in cash games stakes, which fell to €1.06b.

For the year as a whole, total stakes fell 5% to €8.4b. Sports betting was the star performer, with stakes up 31% to €1.1b and revenue up 36% to €227m. Betting on the horses wasn’t as fortunate, with stakes and revenue falling to €1.03b (-7%) and €257m (-3%) respectively. Cash poker stakes fell 14% to €4.35b and tournament stakes rose 6% to €1.55b, resulting in a 7% decline in poker revenue to €241m.

World Cup betting generated €109m in turnover, nearly 10% of the annual betting total. Football wagers of all stripes rose 36% in 2014, while basketball gained 49% and tennis rose 18%.

At the close of 2014, the regulated French market had 17 operators holding 31 separate licenses: 12 online poker, 11 sports betting and eight for horseracing. The total number of online sports betting accounts rose 36% to 1.14m, while active accounts rose 32% to 170k. Total horseracing accounts fell 2% to 488k and actives fell 3% to 139k. Poker accounts fell 7% to 1.16m and actives fell 10% to 246k.

DOMESTIC OPERATORS UP AND DOWN

French betting operator France Pari’s Q4 report card showed revenue up 43% to €17.9m. Sports betting revenue rose nearly 50% to €15.8m while racing revenue fell 9% to €1.05m and Sportnco B2B revenue doubled to €1.05m. France Pari said its mobile channels accounted for 25% of all wagers in 2014 and 40% of Q4’s total, suggesting the nine mobile apps launched last year are gathering momentum.