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Discussions at the AFJEL annual conference focused on responsible gambling, licensing and combatting the illegal market… Yet Jake Pollard notes that the potential of France launching its regulated online casino market dominated all leadership discussions.
France’s iGaming industry gathered yesterday for the annual conference organised by its trade body AFJEL and discussions covered the role of AI in addressing problem gambling, illegal markets or tax raises, but, unsurprisingly, all conversations linked back to whether France should regulate online casino.
Commenting on the possibility of iCasino regulation, Isabelle Falque-Pierottin, President of France’s gambling regulator the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), said a fine balance had to be struck since online slots were the most addictive iGaming products.
“There are 1.4 million problem and 400,000 excessive gamblers (in France), so what would be the impact if we add addictive products on top?” The ANJ boss also asked whether regulation would dry out the illegal market. “It will certainly help, but the benefit is not so obvious.”
She also raised the potential impact regulation could have on land-based casinos and that regulating the vertical “would not be on the margins of an existing market, it is as important, if not more more significant than 2010” when the country legislated online sports betting and poker.
Home support: Falque-Pierrotin added that there would be a need to look out for French businesses and their capacity to withstand an influx of major newcomers. “International actors have been close to us for a number of years and are now intently knocking at our door,” she noted.
Upsetting the status quo
Nicolas Béraud CEO of French market leader Betclic and President of AFJEL, said the “status quo is no longer tenable” as a vast illegal market continues to target the country and licensed operators are unable to offer a key product to consumers.
Asked if regulation would bring the illegal market into a regulated environment, Béraud said he was unsure “if it was denial; the topic is not whether it should open, the market is already open”.
He added that French players can find an online casino site on Google in minutes and “play without even realising it’s an illegal site”. He also made the point that with an estimated 4 million players already active and revenues of €2bn, the illegal market in France is already “the size of a mature market”.
“We honestly don’t know if problem gambling rates have gotten worse in recent years, but the 4 million playing on illegal sites should be brought into a legal setting. There is no one better than online operators at monitoring activity and detecting problem gamblers,” added Béraud.
From doubt to opposition
Lottery operator Française des Jeux (FDJ) has already expressed serious doubts about the project and in his comments, the group’s CSR Director Vincent Perrotin sounded like FDJ is opposed to regulation.
He said regulating online casino would amount to “overlaying a legal offer on top of a very important illegal one” and questioned the tax revenues of €1bn that the vertical is expected to generate and added that jobs in France would suffer as a result of any influx of international brands.
Anders Dorph, CEO of Spillemyndigheden, Denmark’s Gambling Authority, said the most important part of fighting illegal gambling “is to make sure you have a legal offer that gives the opportunity to have a sound legal market” so that legal operators can compete effectively.
Dorph added that “DNS blocking illegal pages (is) like hunting rabbits”, but since Denmark has been doing it, there have been “13 times less illegal sites, so it definitely helps”.
Béraud also welcomed the number 2 brand in the country Winamax as the latest member to join AFJEL.
He added that the trade group would continue the discussions it has been having with the government related to the tax rises it plans to introduce to raise an extra €500m for its social security budget.
