FDJ to Reevaluate Digital Gaming Business, Prediction Market Might Be on The Cards
FDJ United has signalled a rethink of its online betting and gaming arm, telling investors it will carry out a market review that could lead to exits from some territories and the sale of certain assets.
Read more Football
The move was outlined in the group’s H1 2026 results, where management stressed the need to steady gross gaming revenue and soften the blow from rising gambling taxes in several markets.
President and CEO Stéphane Pallez said “the group’s performance in the first half of the year continued to be impacted by increased taxes.”
That pressure showed up in the numbers: GGR slipped 1.3% year-on-year, but net revenue fell faster, down 4.5%, reflecting the higher tax take. EBITDA dropped from €441m in the first half of 2025 to €404m, while adjusted net profit fell 19%, from €222m to €180m.
Pallez also pointed to “exceptional heatwaves, which have weighed on traffic at points of sale in France,” adding another drag on performance. Due to this mix of tax and operational challenges, FDJ United now plans to review its digital portfolio and consider withdrawing online betting and gaming from some regions, alongside possible disposals of parts of the business.
UK and Netherlands operations under the spotlight
FDJ’s review will focus heavily on the online unit it inherited from Kindred, which includes licences across the UK, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Italy and several other markets.
The €2.45bn takeover in late 2024 brought Unibet, 32Red and the rest of Kindred’s digital brands under FDJ’s umbrella, but two years on, the group is now reassessing where those operations still make financial sense.
The company said online betting and gaming absorbed the worst of recent tax hikes. When the UK and Netherlands are removed from the figures, GGR actually rises 6.6% and net revenue edges up 0.6%.
But once the full tax burden is included, nearly €24m across France, the UK, the Netherlands and Romania, net revenue drops 7.4% to €431m.
Read more Los Angeles Rams
FDJ highlighted ongoing difficulties in both the UK and Dutch markets. In the Netherlands, GGR fell 15% year‑on‑year in Q1, though the decline eased to 4.1% in Q2, showing that the business is slowly recovering even as tighter rules continue to squeeze operators.
For the UK, FDJ didn’t say much, but it’s clear. Remote gaming duty jumped from 21% to 40% in April 2026, and remote betting tax will rise from 15% to 25% in 2027.
Despite that pressure, FDJ’s report hints that the UK may not be among the markets it is considering exiting. Instead, it says an “ongoing action plan will begin to yield results by the end of 2026,” suggesting the group sees a path to improvement rather than withdrawal.
FDJ and ProphetX: a prediction market pivot?
FDJ’s market review comes at the same time the group is quietly building a foothold in a very different corner of the gambling world.
Through its venture arm, the company has taken a stake in ProphetX, a US prediction‑market operator that recently secured full federal approval. ProphetX announced a $35m funding round this week, with FDJ Ventures among the participants, though the size of FDJ’s investment was not disclosed.
ProphetX received CFTC registration in June 2026, first as a derivatives clearing organisation, then as a contract market the following day. That status allows it to list event contracts, including sports‑related markets, under federal rules rather than navigating the usual state‑by‑state sportsbook model.
For FDJ, whose European online business has been squeezed by tax hikes and tightening regulations, prediction markets offer access to a fast‑growing US product category that sits outside traditional betting.
Source: NEXT.io
Comments