Target is 2025 for regulated iCasino in France
Target is 2025 for regulated iCasino in France
France could regulate online casino in the next 12-18 months, Gaming and Co looked into key issues and spoke with stakeholders about it.
Welcome to the first English-language edition of Gaming and Co. With France looking to regulate online casino, we spoke with industry stakeholders and looked into key themes likely to dominate the debate.
Here are some key takeaways:
Consensus: all French stakeholders agree that the vertical should be regulated.
The country’s land-based casinos are key players in the debate and the industry’s links to nearly 200 French communes will be crucial.
Exclusion zone: A three-year exclusivity period has been called for by those land-based casinos.
Timetable: The regulation could be voted through by the end of 2024, with go-live set for 2025.
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France targets 2025 for iCasino regulation
Interest in the French online gambling market has shot up in recent months as the country considers regulating online casinos more than a decade after it regulated online sports betting and poker. Gaming and Co spoke with stakeholders and delves into the key issues.
High stakes: Key stakeholders include the Syndicat des Casinos de France (CdF), which includes France’s largest and most well-known casino groups such as Barrière, Tranchant, JOA, Partouche and some independent operators, while the Association des Casinos Indépendants (ACI) totals more than 50 establishments.
Land-based casinos occupy a specific and important place in the economic lives of the 63 départements and 196 communes they are based in. They can only operate in thermal or tourist resorts and are closely tied to local jobs, taxes and budgets.
Online players: The Association française des jeux en ligne (AFJEL) represents the regulated online operators, including market leaders Betclic and Winamax along with Unibet, NetBet and others like bwin.
Monopolies: National lottery operator La Française des jeux (FDJ) and horse racing tote operator Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) will follow proceedings closely.
As the gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) is in contact with all stakeholders. It is also due to publish a report into the illegal online casino market in France at the end of this month.
Foundation stone: Philippe Bon, CEO of Casinos de France, says the trade body had already started exploring online casino regulation through a regulatory project called JADE (jeu à distance experimental/experimental remote gaming), but “the pandemic added new urgency to this endeavour”.
Bon says the trade body had been considering online casino regulation “because of all the gambling verticals, French land-based casinos are the only ones not to have online outlets”.
The pandemic also showed how important digital offerings were, while “the illegal online casino market increased exponentially during lockdown”, which added to the sense of urgency.
The CdF boss adds that the project is also about modernising the country’s casino sector, that regulatory “blocks will be lifted at some point” and CdF “plans to be a proactive stakeholder in the regulatory process”.
What would a regulated French iCasino sector look like?
Mirror image: CdF is advocating that licences, initially, are only issued to French land-based casinos; with online portals replicating the land-based offers.
The number of physical slot machines and games tables would be reproduced online, although Bon adds that “exact details still need to be worked out”.
“But, he adds, “we believe it’s a reasonable and responsible proposal that is correlated to the gaming offers available in physical outlets. There could also be options where independent casinos could mutualise their offerings to provide their own digital offers.”
In February ANJ told a parliamentary committee that regulating online casinos would cause financial losses for 30% of French land-based casinos.
CdF says “this loss of revenue could be compensated for by funds from remote operators that would enable to maintain or even increase returns towards the communities where physical casinos are based.”
Exclusive experimentation: CdF is advocating for a three-year “experimentation period” during which only French land-based casinos would be able to operate online. After that, there would be a review of channelisation rates.
Chances of success
Time is now: Julie Jacob, founding partner of the law firm Jacob Avocats, says she “is very optimistic” about the possibility of online casino being regulated in France in the next 12-18 months.
One industry contact Gaming and Co spoke with was even more direct : “There is a strong probability that regulation will happen and the market will open in 2025.”
Balancing act:
“The project is also part of the government’s search for balance between all verticals and the proposal put forward by CdF is a good halfway point, because while the land-based casinos want to see a restricted opening, AFJEL members would likely favour a much broader opening.”
Julie Jacob adds that there is agreement among all stakeholders on the need to regulate the vertical and strong regulations will “provide a legal framework that would generate substantial tax revenues and protect players”.
Having the support of local town halls and “the MPs representing them in parliament is also key to the chances of online casino regulations being voted through”, she adds.
The JADE project is being run in parallel with an online safety and security draft bill that will devise regulations for JONUMs (which translates as “monetizable games with exchangeable digital objects”) and provide a legal framework for groups like the French unicorn Sorare.
Jacob notes that the JONUM and JADE projects have one aim, “which is to protect players, fight against money laundering and illegal operators and produce tax revenues for the state”.
It’s all in the timing: If the timetables for both projects seem ideal, Philippe Bon of CdF says they are coincidental and should not be seen as the French government making room for potential online casino regulation in return for gambling stakeholders acquiescing to JONUM.
However, while CdF and AFJEL have been calling for iCasino regulation for some time, it is also hard to imagine their members, along with FDJ, being overly enthusiastic at the treatment afforded to groups like Sorare.
For Jacob, “the JONUM project should be seen in the context of France positioning itself as a tech hub for startups and investors, whether they are French or international.”
What about the pure online players? Unsurprisingly, France’s online betting operators support the regulation of iCasino in France and ideally would like to get licensed in the first wave of regulation.
Via AFJEL, they introduced amendments related to the regulation of online casino into the JONUM project, but these were rejected in early July. The discussion is set to return to the National Assembly at the end of September.
Deals in the pipeline: If they are not part of the first wave of regulation, industry sources suggest they could look at acquiring an independent casino group.
G&C contacted AFJEL for comment but had not received a reply at the time of writing.
Context
Casino cannibals: France’s 2010 online gambling regulations did not include online casinos. This was at the behest of land-based casino operators, who feared the cannibalising impact that digital casinos would have on their business.
What’s changed: The following years have enabled unregulated online casinos to develop highly lucrative activities in France, while COVID forced French casinos to shut down for 10 months and demonstrated the importance of digital offers.
By the numbers: The illegal online casino market in France is estimated to be worth €1.5bn-€2bn, with between 1.4 and 2.2 million players visiting unregulated sites. This compares to online regulated GGR of around €2.2bn across all verticals.
Everyone’s in agreement: In 2023, there is a broad consensus among market players on the need to regulate, tax and provide a legal framework in which French players can play online casino in a regulated way and in a secure environment.
By doing so France would join the rest of Europe, bar Cyprus, in having a regulated online casino sector.
Calendar
25 July : Kindred Q2
26 July : Kambi Q2
27 July : FDJ H1
Contact
Contact Jake Pollard to find out more about Gaming and Co: jake@gamingandco.info