The futsal and five's market in France

Futsal, as a discipline, is a sport derived from soccer, traditionally played on a small indoor pitch, mostly on a hard surface, between two teams of five players.in its entirety, futsal refers to the practice of soccer in a paying complex, and therefore includes all the economic activities and revenues generated by its practice in these different complexes. Although there may be a distinction between the discipline and the activity "futsal", the term "futsal" refers to indoor soccer complexes.

Created in South America in the 1930s, futsal first developed on that continent before reaching other countries across the Atlantic. In 2021, the global market was estimated at $323.17 million, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.99% to 2027.Its introduction on the European continent was late in coming. In France, the concept of five-a-side soccer was imported in 2005 with the creation of the first Urban Football complex in Puteaux. Following exponential growth between 2005 and 2014, a phase of consolidation took place between the main complexes in 2014, leading to the creation of a nationwide market in which UrbanSoccer - the result of the merger between Urban Football and UrbanSoccer - is the leading player. the result of the merger between Urban Football and Soccer 5 - and its challenger Le Five - the result of Le Five's acquisition of Soccer Park, account for more than half of all complexes and exert their supremacy, particularly in the Paris region.

In recent years, the French futsal and five-a-side market has seen strong growth, with sales set to increase by 900% between 2012 and 2022. Today's five-a-side complexes have largely adopted international rules, and the game is now played on synthetic turf on pitches of varying sizes, from 3 vs. 3 to 6 vs. 6. In this respect, although largely inspired by South American sport, the format of futsal as it is played today by complexes was invented in the United States. In regional complexes, outdoor futsal pitches are being developed. On average, among the examples targeted by the study, complexes generally offer one outdoor pitch for every 4 to 5 indoor pitches - UrbanSoccer and Five excluded.

Resorts are also tending to diversify their activities. This diversification is twofold: firstly, in the services offered to players. Resorts have adapted their offerings to their two preferred clienteles, young people and businesses, by offering to organize special events or seminars at their complex. More recently, this has led to the introduction of new activities such as basketball, badminton and Bubble 5. In addition, digitalization seems to be becoming an important differentiating factor, bringing real added value to players and franchises alike.