Betclic

In 2005, Stéphane Courbit, the French billionaire who helped create Endemol and its global hit Big Brother, launched Betclic in France. The timing was strategic: five years before the country legalized online sports betting and poker, Courbit was positioning his startup for the wave of regulation that hit in 2010. Betclic became one of the first licensed operators in the newly opened French market, and within a year had acquired the Swedish poker network Ongame for €240 million.

Betclic's core offering is sports betting, with a deep focus on football, from Ligue 1 to the Premier League, but it also runs an online casino, poker rooms, virtual sports, and fantasy sports in select markets. The brand is known for competitive odds on French and Portuguese leagues, and its mobile app, revamped in 2023, drove a 25 percent jump in active users. In 2025, Betclic became the first French operator to stream Ligue 1 matches directly on its platform, through a partnership with DAZN.

Headquartered in Paris with a major tech hub in Bordeaux and a licensing base in Malta, Betclic employs over 1,200 people. It holds licenses in France, Malta, Portugal, Poland, Italy, and the Netherlands, and has expanded into Nigeria and Kenya through local partnerships. Revenue is estimated between €400 million and €600 million annually, and Courbit's LOV Group values the company at roughly €1.5 to €2 billion. Betclic has faced regulatory fines in France for advertising violations and responsible gambling lapses, but remains one of the top three operators in its home market alongside FDJ and Winamax.[edit]