On July 17th, the French regulator l’ANJ , closely monitoring the monopoly holder, La Française des Jeux. The regulator aims to maintain a delicate balance between increasing channelisation by introducing more games to the legal market, and curbing the overall expansion of the gaming market. La Française des Jeux, privatised since 2019, holds a monopoly on lottery games both in physical shops and online, as well as sports betting in physical shops. The company paid 380 million euros for these exclusive rights under a 25-year contract with the French state.

A delicate balance

Given its mission to protect consumers, La Française des Jeux’s operations are under constant supervision by the ANJ. The company must balance two competing objectives: providing a variety of games to attract players away from the black market (channelisation) and avoiding the introduction of games that could lead to problem gambling.

“To achieve its objective of channelling players into controlled gaming channels, the monopoly holder must provide a reliable yet attractive alternative to illegal activities, which may involve offering a wide range of games, advertising on a certain scale, and using new distribution techniques,” writes the ANJ. However, this “cannot justify an expansionist policy encouraging consumers’ natural propensity to gamble by stimulating their active participation, nor can it deviate from the State policy objective to limit and control the supply and consumption of games to prevent excessive or pathological gambling and protect minors.”

Required pre-approval of yearly games programme and continued monitoring

To maintain this delicate balance, the ANJ requires pre-approval of La Française des Jeux’s annual game programmes and ongoing monitoring of new games. The ANJ assesses whether these games align with channelling objectives while mitigating the risks of excessive gambling. “It is up to the operator to justify the development of its offer by the contribution it makes to achieving this channelling objective, especially when the risks of excessive gambling are high,” explains the ANJ.

For the 2025 game programme, the ANJ has rejected some proposals from La Française des Jeux. For instance, the company will not be able to offer micro-betting as planned. While other games have received approval, it comes with conditions, such as the removal of integrated cross-promotion. The ANJ’s comprehensive approach involves assessing intricate details such as accelerated symbol revelation speeds and other “risk factors”, before granting game approvals.

The “Playscan”

The ANJ has implemented objective criteria to support its decisions on approving or prohibiting games, with Playscan being one of its primary tools. The assesses gambling practices and rates them green, yellow, or red—red indicating excessive gambling. The ratings are based on a personal questionnaire and collected data related to gaming habits, such as late-night play, session length, and bet levels. Players can see their Playscan results when gambling with La Française des Jeux. The ANJ states that La Française des Jeux must ensure that less than 20 percent of a game’s gross gaming revenue comes from players with a red Playscan status.

Illegal gambling in France

The need for channelisation is more urgent than ever in France. A few days ago, the French online gaming association (AFJEL) reported that in 2023, more players gambled on the illegal market than on the regulated market. In 2024, during the Euro tournament, estimated betting amounts were halved, indicating poor channelling during what was anticipated to be a tournament worth €1 billion in bets.

Française des Jeux’s monopoly

Some stakeholders have been opposing the current monopoly. The European Gaming and Betting Association, and online gambling operators Betclic and Unibet, challenged this decision, alleging infringements on the principles of freedom to provide services, freedom of establishment, and freedom of enterprise, along with abuse of a dominant position and disregard for equality and state impartiality. However, these appeals were rejected by the French Conseil d’État. The Court of Justice of the European Union also upheld the monopoly. Although European treaties guarantee freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services, the court ruled that such restrictions can be justified to ensure a high level of consumer protection in gambling.

WHAT’S NEXT: SiGMA East Europe Summit powered by Soft2Bet, happening in Budapest from 2 – 4 September.