A PMU player (illustration). - A. GELEBART / 20 MINUTES

The recovery started last year by the PMU risks being quickly forgotten. Coronavirus crisis obliges, the company announced Tuesday having put 95% of its 1,250 employees on short-time work. Sanitary measures have indeed caused its activity to cease almost completely.

Funding source for the horse racing industry

“In view of the suspension of horse racing on national territory since March 17 and the cessation of the marketing of horse betting at all of its points of sale, the PMU has decided to use a collective betting system in partial activity of its employees ”, specifies the company. Pari mutuel urbain “has the mission of financing the horse racing sector and its tens of thousands of direct and indirect jobs”. "We will do everything to regain our dynamism as soon as possible," says Cyril Linette, its managing director.

Although PMU has diversified into sports betting and poker since 2010, horse racing still represents almost 85% of the stakes, which amounted to 7.6 billion euros last year. Management wants to strive to continue to offer its customers an online offer made of horse racing betting on international races, sports betting and poker.

After years of falling horse racing, the PMU had started to reverse the trend in 2019, approaching balance on its core business thanks to a stimulus plan launched a year earlier.

Sport

Horse racing suspended in France

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