Banijay Gaming generated €1.21bn in revenue in the first half of 2026, putting the betting and casino division within €160m of the television production arm that has defined the group for a decade. Banijay Entertainment, reporting its first set of numbers since the All3Media combination closed, saw revenue fall 3.8% to €1.37bn ($1.56bn) as production and distribution volumes dropped.
Group revenue for the six months to 30 June rose 16.9% to €2.58bn, up from €2.21bn a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 18.5% to €502.9m. Banijay attributed the entire increase to the gaming division.
Tipico lifts the headline number
Banijay Gaming revenue rose 54.3% year on year, a figure inflated by the Tipico acquisition, which closed on 23 April after being agreed in October 2025. On a pro-forma, constant currency basis, which strips the deal out of the comparison, divisional revenue was up 10.5%.
Sportsbook did most of the work. Revenue reached €943.7m, up 54.8% reported and 8.6% pro-forma at constant FX, helped by the Champions League final in May, in which Paris Saint-Germain beat Arsenal. Games, poker and turf produced combined growth of 18.3% on the same pro-forma basis.
Unique active players across the division were up 22% year on year. During the 2026 World Cup, Banijay said active players were 75% higher than during the 2022 tournament.
Banijay Gaming now comprises Betclic, Tipico and Admiral, serving close to 6.5 million unique active players across six regulated markets, with more than 1,250 betting shops in Germany and Austria. Both of those markets are in flux: Austria is preparing to end its online monopoly, and Germany’s online casino market continues to operate under channelling pressure from unlicensed sites.
Profit falls despite revenue growth
The cost side moved against the group. Long-term incentive plan (LTIP) costs were 61.0% higher, pushing operating profit down 4.5% to €267.7m. Cost of net debt rose 44.6%, and pre-tax profit fell 27.2% to €114.3m. After €34.5m in income tax, net profit came in at €79.7m, down 27.7%.
Stripping out restructuring costs, other non-recurring items and certain finance costs, adjusted net income was €141.5m, a decline of 3.7%.
Banijay held its full-year guidance of mid-single-digit adjusted EBITDA growth on both a standalone and pro-forma basis.
JOA deal moves Banijay into French casinos
The division is also buying JOA, France’s second-largest casino operator, from funds managed by Blackstone and Kings Park Capital. JOA runs 33 casinos across France and draws more than 4.6 million customers a year, with its gaming, hospitality and leisure operations generating gross revenue of around €430m in 2025.
Completion is targeted for the second half of 2026, subject to consultation with employee representatives, merger control clearance and casino gaming approval. Banijay Gaming would own 100% of JOA once it closes. The deal gives the division a retail footprint in France, where Betclic has so far operated online only.
Taken together, Tipico and JOA would place Banijay’s gaming operations among the larger European operators by revenue, a group tracked in our ranking of the 15 largest gambling companies by 2025 revenue.
New CEO for the gaming division
Banijay confirmed alongside the results that Antoine Jouteau will take over as CEO of Banijay Gaming on 1 September. Jouteau spent two spells running French classifieds marketplace leboncoin, leading it from January 2005 to August 2022, and previously held roles at TDF and PagesJaunes.
Nicolas Béraud, the Tipico founder who had been overseeing the division as chairman since April, moves to non-executive chairman of the board. Joachim Baca remains non-executive vice chairman.
Group CEO François Riahi framed the half around the three deals rather than the numbers.
“2026 is definitely a transformational year for Banijay Group. The acquisition of Tipico, completion of the combination of Banijay Entertainment and All3Media, and the proposed acquisition of JOA in France grant to the group more scale, more diversity in terms of geography, channels of distribution, and a better strategic positioning to achieve all its strategic goals, creating new opportunities for both growth and value creation.”
On what comes next, Riahi pointed to integration work rather than new transactions.
“In H2, we will enhance the integration processes in our two business units and will start delivering synergies. The addition of Antoine Jouteau to our set up, who will join the group as CEO of sports betting and gaming activities, will be key in this context.”
The second half will test whether the pro-forma growth rate holds without a World Cup and a Champions League final in the comparison base, and whether the promised synergies arrive quickly enough to offset the higher debt costs now running through the income statement. If the JOA deal closes as planned before the end of the year, gaming will overtake entertainment as Banijay’s largest business by revenue in 2027.
Source: Banijay Group
