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Noah Turner, Turner Technical Consulting (TTC) Incorporated
noahturner@live.ca
“From a technical perspective, France’s approach to regulation is an interesting one. Their requirements cover a wide range of issues that focus on the fairness and security of licensed iGaming websites. However, they do not go into explicit detail. Instead, they rely on the third-party test houses to interpret their requirements and develop a corresponding compliance assessment scope. While this indeed sets France apart from many other jurisdictions in Europe, there is no reason that this approach can’t be successful, provided that their regulatory body, ARJEL, takes appropriate steps to ensure a level playing field between approved third-party test houses. ARJEL has succeeded in establishing themselves among the top-tier jurisdictions in Europe, and around the world. Suppliers and operators seeking to benefit from the credibility of working in a top-tier jurisdiction, and who have established a good working relationship with a highly-experienced third-party test house, would do well to consider France for their iGaming operations.”
infoRmation panel ADULT POPULATION: ..........................51 million HOME BROADBAND: .........................60 per cent
CURRENT LEGISLATION: ..................................... Act 2010-476 / May 2010
REMOTE GAMING PERMITTED: ............................. Sports betting (live betting, pool betting and fixed odds), horse race bets and cash poker (since June 2010)
NOT PERMITTED: ................................................ casino games, slot machines, betting exchange, spread betting.
ONLINE GAMING TAX: ......................................... 8.5 per cent OF GGR (sports betting)
SIZE OF MARKET: ................................................ 48 licences issued to 35 operators.
LICENCES: .......................................................... 48 licences awarded to 36 operators – 15 for sports, 25 for poker and eight for horse racing. 11 authorised operators issued with 17 licences.
TOTAL GAMBLING TURNOVER: ...................¤36bn TOTAL ONLINE GGR: ................................... ¤1bn
REGULATORY BODY: ............................................ Authorite de Regulation des Jeux en Ligne (ARJEL)
Tel: ........................................+33 1 57 13 1300 Email: ......................................
contant@arjel.fr Website:
.........................................www.arjel.fr
betting on average €110 per week and the average bet is around €7.50.
• At the end of 2010 the online horse racing market saw €450 in bets with the average betting amount per week of €125 per player and an average bet of €4.
• Poker games are the flagship online game and have generated during the same period some €3.7bn. Of this around €412m are in entry fees for tournaments.
• By the first quarter of 2011 there were 1.3 million active player accounts and some 3.5 million active accounts on dot com sites. The number of account active since the opening of the market is 2.6 million.
• However it is also reported by ARJEL that the first quarter of 2011 has shown total stakes falling to less than €150m, a drop caused by low payouts.
The online gaming legalisation has come as a bit of a disappointment to the government if first quarter profits of 2011 are anything to go by. Only online poker is attracting players in the French only sites so far.
Although poker saw bets of €1.9m during the first quarter this was less than the amount anticipated. Horse racing maintains its pre- regulation days and is fairly steady whilst sport
betting is feeling the pinch with a 40 per cent drop in play.
• Since the market opened Paris Sports has made €595m. Of this €147m was recorded during Q1 of 2011. Football has a 54 per cent of the sports betting market followed by tennis with 24 per cent. Live betting represents 49 per cent of the stakes.
• Since the market opened Horse Racing has made €693m. Of this €241m was recorded during the Q1 of 2011.
• Since the market opened Poker Games have made €5.5bn in cash games and €683m in tournaments. Of this €1.9bn was recorded during Q1 of 2011. Activity of tournaments has increased by four per cent since Q4.
The critics say that the liberalisation of the online market is inadequate as the law does
illeGal opeRatinG still exists and is estimated the
loss in tuRnoveR in 2011 could Reach €450m.
not incorporate casino games like black jack and roulette as well as lotto. The only game permitted is online poker. Secondly, as the poker industry is broken down into dot fr sites operators fear this will have an adverse affect on the benefits of having a pool of players from across Europe via dot com sites.
Thirdly, on top of that taxes are also high. France is one of the few countries which taxes the total amount bet as opposed to the revenue earned by the gambling company. Total tax on sport bets stands at 8.8 per cent in France compared to 3.8 per cent in Italy. High taxes, strict regulations over what bets can be placed, plus the continued presence of the PMU and FDJ is hindering any profits for the sector.
The legislation has been condemned by many operators who say the high tax rate makes it difficult to make a profit and is biased in favour of former monopolies FDJ and PMU. It is said that PMU and FDJ have an unfair advantage due to their pre-regulation player base and monopoly and lower tax on land based products.
However it said that the new study of the taxation of online gaming sites will not take place until May 2012 after the Presidential elections.
FDJ and PMU keep their monopolies on all betting outlets located in cafes and tobacco
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