France adds youth betting safeguards to sports reform bill
The Professional Sports Bill includes provisions to introduce lower loss limits for younger gamblers.
Frane.- The French National Assembly has passed a set of amendments to the Professional Sports Bill. While the legislative package mainly focuses on reshaping sports governance and introducing new protections for athletes and consumers, provisions have been added related the online sports betting sector.
Lawmakers have authorised the introduction of a loss-limit mechanism for consumers aged 18 to 25, a measure designed to curb excessive gambling among young adults. Under the amendments, sportsbook operators will be legally required to apply age-specific loss limits.
The primary legislation does not define the threshold itself. This will be set through secondary regulation following consultation with the French gambling regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) under new ANJ president Pascal Chèvremont would be the one to oversee the regulator’s input on the limits.
Outgoing ANJ president Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin endorsed the proposed measure, citing research that revealed that “two-thirds of under-25s have wagered on sports.”
If enacted, the move will see France follow the Netherlands, which introduced distinct loss limits for under 25s in October 2024. Norway also has specific limits for younger adults under Norsk Tipping’s monopoly offerings. Elsewhere, the UK introduced a £2 online slot stake limit for 18–24-year-olds in May 2025.
Aside from the gambling provision, the Professional Sports Bill proposes reforms including the modernisation of governance and financial controls for sports leagues, stricter rules for professional football management and measures relating to the enforcement against audiovisual piracy.
Illegal broadcasting remains a pressing issue with data from the Association for the Protection of Sports Programmes (APPS) showing that 59 per cent of France’s 9.9 million football fans have accessed pirated streams. One in five supporters are estimated to have watched Ligue 1 matches without a valid subscription to Ligue 1+ or BeIN Sports. Lawmakers argue that tougher enforcement is essential to safeguard media rights and ensure financial sustainability.
