Poll results: France needs to regulate casino and skill games

With the French egaming market in a state of decline under the current regulatory model, eGR readers believe that regulating casino and skill games would be the best way to prompt growth in the sector.

Earlier this month ARJEL president Jean-François Vilotte hinted at the possibility of skill games regulation in 2013, revealing that he is due to present a report on possible methods of skill games regulation to the minister of finance in February next year. 42% of those polled believed this would be the most effective way to halt the continuing decline in the French market.

Sports betting remains the most problematic vertical, with deposits falling by 23% year-on-year in H2 2011, but only 21% of readers believe that ARJEL should make revising the terms of sports betting regulation its priority. The same percentage believes that a full restructuring of the regulatory body is necessary, essentially allowing France to scrap existing legislation and start again.

Despite concerns that PMU and La Française des Jeux are allowed to maintain a leading position through favourable regulatory terms, just 16% believed that making concessions to private operators to allow them to compete more effectively against the former monopolies is the best option.