Online casino in France: government decision to regulate generates debate

A new amendment would allow regulated igaming, but land-based casinos want exclusivity.

France.- The government is moving to finally regulate online casinos in France, the last major Western European market where the vertical is banned. Faced with a booming unlicensed market and a need to plug a hole in public finances, the government aims to regulate the sector as soon as 2025, but that’s set up a fight with land-based casinos.

Online casino remains illegal in France despite the regulation of online sports betting and poker. The national regulator, the ANJ, recently announced a campaign against unlicensed operators, seeking to clarify to the public that the sector is illegal. However, a new amendment to be debated with the 2025 budget proposal could allow a competitive regulated online casino market as soon as mid-2025.

The government noted that the lack of a regulated online casino segment in France had resulted in a strong illegal offer that’s estimated to rake in between €748m and €1.5bn. While some legislators have been pushing for regulation for some time, the government is finally advancing due to a need for more tax revenue to reduce the country’s debt and the public deficit, which stands at 5.5 per cent of GDP.

While the government also aims to increase tax on the gambling sector in general, it thinks that the regulation of online casino could bring in €1bn. According to the wording proposed, online casino operators would pay 27 per cent on gross gaming revenues. The total tax rate on the vertical would be 55.6 per cent.

However, the land-based casino body Casinos de France has criticised the move and called for land-based casino operators to be given three years of exclusivity over the online casino market. It claims that a competitive market would cause the government to lose approximately €450m in tax revenue from land-based casinos.

The body’s president Grégory Rabuel told Les Echos: “Opening up the online casino market to competition will lead to a 20-30 per cent drop in GGR for land-based casinos and the closure of 30 per cent of establishments. This will have catastrophic consequences, particularly in social terms: it is estimated that 15,000 jobs will be lost. It’s tantamount to signing the death warrant for land-based casinos.”