French PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain) is Europe´s Largest Betting Operator

USPA NEWS - PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain) is a Horse Racing Betting Provider. Since 2010, it has also offered Sports Betting and Poker on its website. PMU offers its customers a wide range of bets, along with related services and all the necessary information for bettors, 365 days a year....

PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain) is a Horse Racing Betting Provider. Since 2010, it has also offered Sports Betting and Poker on its website. PMU offers its customers a wide range of bets, along with related services and all the necessary information for bettors, 365 days a year. PMU is Europe´s Largest Betting Operator and the 3rd Largest Pool Betting Company in the World. It is an Economic Interest Grouping (EIG), the mission of which is to finance the French horse racing industry.

Its entire Net Income, €796 million in 2016, is returned to the EIG member racing companies, providing 80% of the revenue of the French Horse Racing Industry. In particular, this funding goes into maintaining and modernising the 242 racetracks and training or Breeding Centres, as well as the provision of prize money and the organisation of races. It also contributes to the sustainability of over a hundred professions and specialities, such as jockeys, grooms, trainers, farriers, riding instructors, vets, and saddle makers, amongst others.

On April 20, 2017 at New Cap (in PARIS) was given a Press Conference regarding the PMU's Results for the past years and the expectations for the future as PMU is growing and actually doing well Domestically and Internationally. The Marketing plan for the coming years is well established and optimism is well demonstrated in the official statements.

With 12,800 points of sale throughout France, PMU constitutes a real and physical social network. With 6 million punters, horse racing represents 92% of the overall turnover of PMU, which is also the leading horse race pool betting operator in Europe and number three in the world. The rich range of Horse Race Betting is aimed at both enthusiasts and beginners. Quinté+ is the Flagship Bet.

At the end of 2015, PMU had to separate its online and offline stake pools. The French Horse Racing Industry and the quality of its races are recognised throughout the world. Every year, more than 18,000 races are organised on French territory, two thirds of which are offered for betting by PMU and has since 1997 enriched its calendar with a selection of foreign races. This is currently a rapidly growing area of activity : in 2015, PMU offered 3,603 foreign races from 26 different countries for betting, representing total stakes of 755 million Euros. In 2016, it was of more than 1 billion Euros.

International activity is extremely dynamic, PMU now has 67 operating partners over 5 continents, for a total of 48 countries, either as export or as import. Common pool bets exceeded the billion-euro stakes mark (1.042 billion euros), up 29% compared to 2015. Greece and Brazil joined the PMU common pool, the largest in Europe, which now has 23 countries connected. Among the countries with the highest growth in 2016 are Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands.

PMU is once again in 2016 the 1st Betting Site in France and it became the 3rd French E-commerce Site, according to the classification of E-Commerce Magazine. The mobile share again rose sharply to reach almost a third of the digital activity (32%) at €488m, thus making PMU one of the top mobile commercial websites.

For sports betting, the year was marked by the 2016 Euro Cup, during which PMU, a Major Partner of the France team, deployed its 'The Footballers' system with an advertising campaign and events in the points of sale network through the 'Bars des Bleus'.

PMU´s total activity in 2016 reached 9.738 billion Euros, down by 0.6%. The Gross Gambling Revenue (Turnover) is up by 1.3% to €2.444 billion. Horse racing activity totaled €8.896bn in stakes (-1.1%), for Gross Gambling Revenue up by 1.2% to €2.385bn. Stakes in France were down by 4% to €7.854 billion. Stakes abroad rose by 29% to €1.042 billion. Sports bets rose 19.7% to €283.5 million for an increase in gross gambling revenue of 1.9% to €44 million. Poker stakes amounted to €559 million, down 1.6%; Gross Gambling Revenue up by 4.9% to €15m.

A strategic acceleration and business transformation plan to encourage further agility is being deployed early in 2016 in line with PMU 2020. This plan, called PMU 2020.1, is based on three strategic pillars : product and service innovation,
transforming the point of sale network and international growth.

With the campaign BET ON YOURSELF, PMU unveils its new Brand Territory marking a strategic turning point in its communications, In fact, PMU has chosen to put all the emphasis on winnings and winners. PMU is taking advantage of this new brand campaign to unveil its new signature 'Bet on yourself, understandable by all and embracing all the Brand activities : Horse Racing, Sport and Poker.

After having launched TURFOOT at the start of the year, the first Bet Mixing Horse Racing and Sport Betting, PMU is offering a completely new Horse Racing Bet, the 'Simple JACKPOT'. It is a Single Horse to find and the possibility of multiplying winnings by up to 1 000 times. It is addressed to all punters, whatever their expertise. For a minimum stake of €2, punters will have the surprise of discovering a multiplier of up to 1 000 ! Players will have one chance in five of obtaining a multiplier of 2 or more (×1, ×2, ×5, ×10, ×100 or ×1000). This new bet will be offered as from April 27, 2017, and will be offered on all races in the programme, except Regional Races and Foreign Races in the Common Pool.

Like the new brand platform 'Pariez sur vous' ('The best bet is on you'), the launch of 'Simple JACKPOT' is accompanied by a new 360° advertising campaign on a large scale supported by a TV ad.

Source : Press Conference given at New Cap (in PARIS) on April 20, 2017.

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