France began moving closer to legalization of online gambling activities in 2005. Back then the European Commission embarked on an investigation of the current state of the nation’s gambling industry. In 2007 the Commission stated that particular amends to the already existing gambling legislation needed to be introduced, so that the latter could conform to the European Union’s legal framework. In 2009 a bill was proposed by the French government, which only partially allowed online gambling operators access to the French market.
The French Gambling Act, or Law No. 2010-476 of May 12th 2010, which introduced competition and regulation of the nation’s gambling and online gambling sectors, was enforced on May 13th 2010. It set up an official organization to supervise the entire industry under the monicker ARJEL (French Gambling Authority). The Act appointed three more entities to exercise regulation functions – the CNIL (National Commission on Informatics and Liberty), the ADLC (French Competition Authority) and the CSA (an independent entity to safeguard Audiovisual Communication Freedom). According to the French legislation, three types of online gambling activities are permitted – sports betting, horse race betting and poker games. However, casino-style games, spread betting and betting exchange remain outside the scope of authorized online gambling activities, because policy makers consider them as spurring addictive behavior.
The new Act faced fierce critisim, with the major lines being the restrained scope of gambling options and low payouts for players, unfavorable tax conditions and quite rigorous requirements, including the obligation for operators to keep their servers on French territory.
Gambling Behavior
According to the 2010 national survey, which was conducted by phone and encompassed 25 034 respondents aged between 18 and 75, 47.8% of participants have gambled at least once during the 12 months before the survey year, 10.9% were identified as regular gamblers (played 52 times last year) and 12.2% were categorized as active gamblers (played at least 52 times last year and/or played and spent at least EUR 500). Among the group of active gamblers 3.7% were categorized as ”pathological gamblers” and 10.7% were identified as ”problem gamblers”.
”Problem Gambling” Prevalence Among Active Gamblers in France
In 2012 two coordinated surveys were held on online gambling:
1) a representative survey by phone encompassing 2 761 persons aged over 18, which aimed to determine the prevalence of online gambling by the population and
2) a descriptive survey of the practices of online gamblers and associated problems, which encompassed a panel of 830 000 web users aged between 18 and 75.
The survey concluded that 7% of French gamblers played online, while the specific characteristics of the online gambler were young of age, male, well-educated and well-integrated into the society.
| Online and Offline Gamblers in terms of Sociodemographic characteristics | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Gamblers 2012 (N = 4 042) | Offline Gamblers 2010 (N = 11 655) | General Population 2012 data | |
| Gender | |||
| Men | 57.2% | 52.3% | 49.0% |
| Women | 42.8% | 47.7% | 51.0% |
| Age | |||
| 18-24 | 12.0% | 11.0% | 12.1% |
| 25-34 | 26.1% | 20.4% | 17.6% |
| 35-49 | 35.0% | 34.2% | 29.1% |
| 50-64 | 21.0% | 26.0% | 27.8% |
| 65-75 | 5.8% | 8.4% | 13.4% |
| Education | |||
| Did not obtain a Bachelor Degree | 22.2% | 42.4% | 59.7% |
| Obtained a Bachelor Degree | 24.9% | 19.0% | 15.9% |
| Obtained Post-Bachelor Diploma | 53.0% | 38.7% | 24.5% |
| Socioprofessional Category* (SPC) | |||
| Inactive | 23.8% | 26.5% | 43.1% |
| Low SPC | 23.8% | 41.8% | 31.1% |
| High SPC | 52.5% | 31.7% | 25.9% |
*Low SPC includes employees, labourers and farmers
*High SPC includes managers, mid-level professors and higher, artisans
Source: Enquette e-ENJEU2012, OFDT/ODJ; Barometre sante 2010, INPES/OFDT
| Online and Offline Gamblers in terms of Gambling Patterns | ||
|---|---|---|
| Online Gamblers 2012 (N = 4 042) | Offline Gamblers 2010 (N = 11 655) | |
| Frequency and Amount Spent | ||
| played over 52 times in the past 12 months | 45.0% | 22.8% |
| spent over EUR 500 in the past 12 months | 27.1% | 9.8% |
| Active Gamblers* | 50.8% | 25.5% |
| Gambling activities (among active gamblers) | ||
| Lottery and scratch cards | 64.5% | 89.6% |
| Poker | 19.2% | 8.0% |
| Sports Betting | 16.4% | 8.8% |
| Horse Racing | 13.8% | 23.2% |
| Slot Machines | 7.2% | 17.7% |
| Casino Games (ex-Poker) | 4.0% | 4.6% |
| Problematic Gambling | ||
| Moderate-risk Gamblers | 10.4% | 1.9% |
| Problem Gamblers | 6.6% | 0.9% |
*persons who have played 52 times or more and/or spent at least EUR 500 in the past 12 months
Source: Enquette e-ENJEU2012, OFDT/ODJ; Barometre sante 2010, INPES/OFDT
Online Gamblers in terms of website status
| Online Gamblers in terms of website status and Sociodemographic characteristics | ||
|---|---|---|
| Sociodemographic characteristics | Played on | |
| Regulated sites only (N = 2171) | Unregulated sites only (N = 1871) | |
| Gender | ||
| Men | 62.1% | 37.9% |
| Women | 42.4% | 57.6% |
| Age | ||
| 18-24 | 35.1% | 64.9% |
| 25-34 | 51.5% | 48.5% |
| 35-49 | 57.0% | 43.0% |
| 50-64 | 58.5% | 41.5% |
| 65-75 | 64.5% | 35.5% |
| Education | ||
| Did not obtain a Bachelor Degree | 49.0% | 51.0% |
| Obtained a Bachelor Degree | 48.2% | 51.8% |
| Obtained Post-Bachelor Diploma | 58.3% | 41.8% |
| Socioprofessional Category (SPC) | ||
| Inactive | 48.1% | 51.9% |
| Low SPC | 59.7% | 40.3% |
| High SPC | 53.5% | 46.5% |
| Financial State | ||
| ”Comfortable” | 57.4% | 42.6% |
| ”Just Enough” | 53.6% | 46.4% |
| ”Difficult” | 44.6% | 55.4% |
Source: Enquette e-ENJEU2012, OFDT/ODJ
Industry Performance
According to data by ARJEL, in 2014 the French online gambling industry recorded a 6% annual growth in terms of revenue, with the figure reaching EUR 725 million. The overall result has been supported by the sports betting segment and the favorable effect caused by the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Turnover in online sports betting surged 22% to reach EUR 322 million in the final quarter of 2014, but however revenue remained almost unchanged at EUR 54 million. In terms of the whole 2014, turnover rose 31% to EUR 1.1 billion, while revenue climbed 36% to reach EUR 227 million.
Turnover in the horse racing segment dropped 2% to EUR 272 million in Q4 2014, while revenue was up 1% to EUR 68 million. In terms of the entire 2014, segment turnover went down 7% to EUR 1.03 billion, while revenue fell 3% to EUR 257 million.
Online poker continued its ill performance, as total revenue plummeted 6% to EUR 61.2 million in the fourth quarter last year. Tournament stakes went up 8% to EUR 424 million, but the growth rate failed to neutralize the 12% plunge in cash poker stakes, with the latter tumbling to EUR 1.06 billion. For the whole 2014, the poker segment revenue fell 7% to EUR 241 million. Annual turnover in cash poker went down 14% to EUR 4.35 billion, while the same indicator for tournament poker grew 6% to EUR 1.55 billion.
Betting related to the 2014 World Cup produced a turnover of EUR 109 million.
As of the end of 2014, the French online gambling industry featured 17 operators in possession of 31 individual licenses as follows: 12 for online poker, 11 for sports betting and 8 for horse racing. Total sports betting accounts reached 1.14 million in 2014 (+36%), those in online poker were registered at 1.16 million (-7%), while accounts in horse racing were 488 000 (-2%).
