Vilotte hints at French skill games regulation
Regulator ARJEL to submit proposals for regulation in February 2013 " sports betting decline continues
ARJEL president Jean-François Vilotte has hinted at possible regulation of skill games in the French market.
Speaking at ARJEL’s first ceremony of vows in 2012, Vilotte announced plans to present a report on new and sustainable methods to regulate skill games to the French finance minister in February 2013. Skill games are currently banned under the terms of laws signed into effect in May 1836 “ banning lotteries “ and an 1983 ruling banning games of chance, but he added that it may take up to a year to look into regulating the vertical.
He also discussed the current state of the French market, stressing that the regulation passed in May 2010 was “not final” and is subject to change, but admitted that changes would be affected by the political and cultural climate. Last year he called for changes to the regulatory model, claiming that under the current terms tax revenues would decrease, with players increasingly moving to illegal sites.
Vilotte went on to reveal that poker was the most active vertical with 1.7m active accounts and 7.6bn deposited in cash games. In order to halt the sector’s decline and avoid players returning to unlicensed sites, the ARJEL president announced that the regulator will submit proposals to the government to enlarge the sector by offering new cash poker variants.
Meanwhile horse betting has seen a 26% year-on-year rise in deposits from H2 2010, resulting in a 50% rise in gross profit, with only 0.5m active accounts. Sports betting fell by 23% in the same period, attributed to “real structural difficulties.”
Bets on football fell by 22% year-on-year in the last six months of 2011, and 36% less bets were placed on tennis in that time. Vilotte blamed this in part to operators cutting marketing budgets by 55% over this period.
Mobile was highlighted as growing in importance, with 13% of online activity conducted on mobile devices, and 2% on tablets.
Vilotte refused to comment on Full Tilt Poker, in the process of being acquired by Groupe Bernard Tapie, due to ongoing discussions with the operator.