Market focus - France
A two-minute briefing on the egaming market in France...
The first licences for the French egaming market were finally issued this week, in the nick of time for the football World Cup, which kicks off today.
Non-monopoly operators have said the 85% pay-out ratio and 8.5% tax on gross gaming revenues for sports betting, with no casino to mitigate risk, will make it impossible to make a profit or compete with monopoly incumbents Francaise des Jeux and Pari Mutuel Urbain.
However, Bwin and Mangas were among the first wave of operators directly licensed by French regulator ARJEL, and Unibet has confirmed it will also be gritting its teeth and obtaining licences to gain an early foothold in the market. The poker tax rate of 2% of pots, capped at 1, is however more viable. The government is also required to review the overall situation within 18 months.
PMU – 161.5m (24%);
FDJ – 133.2m (20%);
Betting – 134m (21%);
Casino – 110.7m (17%);
Poker – 80.4m (12%);
Bingo/other – 46.7m (7%)
(All figures 2009 unless otherwise stated)