Das Magazin
Even with a thriving online gambling market, consisting of more than 200 land-based casinos, France maintains a strict prohibition against online casinos.
However, last week, France’s National Assembly saw the introduction of a fresh legislative proposal that suggested changing the current situation. Philippe Latombe, a politician from the Democratic Movement, laid out a series of directives that could lead to the eventual legalisation of online casino games at https://bonscasinosenligne.com/ in France.
The international iGaming industry, as represented by the proposed Bill 1248, is on a slow train to nowhere—at least for the next five years. The timeline it sets out is kind of glacial. It'll take (a minimum of two years after the official launch of an international regulated market) for companies based in France to be allowed to offer something called "online casino." Meanwhile, for the next five years, durig hte 5 years, only someone or some entity construed to be an "operator" that's based in France will be allowed to do anything resembling what we would think of as being "online casino" business.
The bill envisages the following timeline: it would allow national players to develop under calm, serene, and very light regulations for five years, until 1 January 2030, when there would be a total opening of the market. In the meantime, those national players would get a real head start over international competitors, who should otherwise be seen as potential disruptors of the French regulatory framework and the French casino industry.
France's terrestrial gaming establishments are currently operated by 15 groups and 29 independent operators. They run 202 casinos spread throughout the French territory. The operators of these land-based casinos would likely be the ones to receive precedence under a legalized Internet poker framework.
The bill is not clear on whether a US-style ‘skins’ system could be implemented. That is, it is unclear if existing online operators would be allowed to offer online casino through market access agreements with land-based operators.
Regulus Partners (RP) made a somewhat tentative suggestion, however, that "the ability of French casinos to leverage online operators on a B2B basis is unlikely to be sufficiently restrictive as to make it impossible."
RP added that the proposal might therefore echo existing legislation in the US, Belgium, and Switzerland. Even without a "skins"-based system, France has enough different casino operators to provide "sufficient competition to create a dynamic market."
France's ANJ – which oversees online poker, sports and horse racing betting in the country – says that between 1.4 million and 2.4 million French players use unregulated overseas operators to play online casino.
RP proposed that these estimates are more logical when considered on an account basis instead of focusing on individual customers. Even so, that still amounts to nearly 500,000 French residents who use online casino operators that lack any legal authorization.
RP estimates that France's black market for online casinos amounts to about €2 billion a year. The company bases its figure on research and feedback from the online gaming industry. RP's figures break down the sizes of different French gaming markets. Among its other findings, RP said: - The French regulated online betting and poker market is worth about €2 billion a year. - The land-based casino market is valued at about €2.5 billion a year.
RP suggested that reality leaves France in a position where it can no longer ignore its lack of online casino legislation: "Allowing the status quo to continue is simply negligent. It undermines player protection, encourages crime, and damages France's tax base."
Moreover, an online casino market that is open and, to an extent, highly interactive might allow operators to cross-sell this bet-making clientele to casino games. In fact, RP suggested that current estimates might be off by half and that the size of this online casino sector could be as much as €4bn per year.
That would help the French government rake in upwards of €1bn in extra taxes, RP added, "which is genuine 'free money' for the state because it captures existing activity rather than transferring it."
When it comes to taxes, the rates imposed on France’s current gambling market are among the most elevated globally.
Bill 1248 did not state tax rates explicitly; however, the rates would most likely follow the same lines as France's existing tax structure for interactive gambling.
For instance, its land-based casino sector pays taxes as high as 83.5% of GGR on slots revenue. This leads RP to suggest that for online casino, "a rate of 50% or more of GGR is almost guaranteed."
To provide some context, in this country, retail wagering operators pay 44.5 percent of gross gaming revenue (GGR) in taxes, while online operators pay a different amount. On its racing betting operations, an online operator pays 37.7 percent of GGR in taxes. On sports betting operations, though, that same online operator pays a much higher 55.2 percent of GGR in taxes.
The bill contains proposals that would put the online casino sector under the purview of a regulator that does not currently oversee online gambling. Instead of being overseen by the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), as the online poker and sports betting providers are, the online casino sector would be regulated by a land-based authority—the sociétés de fourniture et de maintenance (SFM).
Currently, that organization supervises and controls the buying of all gaming machines by France's physical casinos. Yet, it is not the operators of these casinos who buy the machines; rather, the SFM must buy and install the machines in the casinos. For the most part, that means the SFM chooses and pays for not only the machines themselves but also for the people needed to install them.
In the bill, Latombe proposed that the experience the regulator has from working with land-based establishments would enable it to ensure "global control of physical and electronic casino games" and "preserve the overall balance of the rules" that govern online casino games.
