France ANJ sets first-ever cap on betting ads spend for 2026 World Cup
France’s gambling regulator, ANJ, has moved to curb what it calls an “offensive” marketing push by betting firms ahead of a packed sporting year, ordering operators to stick to the promotional budgets they have declared for 2026 and warning that any attempt to reshuffle spending mid-year could trigger targeted inspections.
In a report published today, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) said operators are planning a sharp rise in promotional outlay for 2026, driven by an intense calendar led by the Winter Olympics and, in particular, the men’s Football World Cup in June and July. The regulator approved the strategies submitted by 19 operators (17 licensed online groups plus the two historic rights-holders, FDJ and PMU) but attached a set of conditions aimed at limiting advertising saturation and reducing the risk of excessive gambling.
At the heart of the new approach is a simple cap. “For the first time,” the ANJ said, it has demanded that all operators “must not exceed the total budget they have announced” and must “strictly limit any redeployment” within that envelope. The watchdog said it could follow up with “specific control operations” where necessary.
Budgets rise, bonuses take centre stage
The ANJ puts the planned promotional spend for 2026 at €785m, up 25% (or €156m) compared with 2025. That headline figure covers both classic marketing and advertising, and the distribution of financial incentives such as bonuses and free bets.
Marketing spend alone is expected to rise 28% to €319m, about 40% of the total. Bonuses and other “gratifications” are projected to reach €466m, accounting for the remaining 60% after an increase of 23%, the report said.
The World Cup, the regulator noted, will act as a magnet for spending: June and July together are expected to concentrate 21% of the annual marketing budget.
Digital advertising remains dominant, taking 44% of planned expenditure, but the ANJ said it is also seeing a partial shift back towards traditional channels such as television and outdoor urban advertising as operators seek mass audiences at key moments. Sponsorship, too, is on the rise, with sports-related deals increasing by 14% according to the regulator’s assessment.
The ANJ acknowledged that most firms had complied with prescriptions made during last year’s review. It also pointed to a moderating factor in 2025: operators’ promotional investments ultimately came in 8% below the initial forecasts they filed, a shortfall the ANJ linked in part to a new 15% tax on marketing that took effect in July 2025.
But the regulator said 2026 looks different. Operators, it said, are focused on “consolidating” their player bases in an intensely competitive online market, leaning heavily on retention offers and on cross-selling between verticals, such as using sports betting promotions to nudge customers towards online poker.
Some companies were told to rein in specific channels, with the ANJ requesting that certain operators reduce marketing budgets, curb social media activity, or show “moderation” in sports partnerships. One operator was instructed to cut retention bonus spending “significantly”.
The regulator said it will work closely with France’s advertising self-regulator, the ARPP, and will keep a close watch on new creative campaigns during the World Cup year.
A regulator fighting “normalisation”
Behind the budget numbers lies a broader concern for the regulator: that gambling is becoming too present, too ordinary, and too tightly woven into everyday entertainment.
Pauline Hot, the ANJ’s director general, has described that cultural shift as a central battle for the regulator. “Even if gambling is authorised and regulated, it must not become an everyday consumer product,” she said in an interview with SiGMA News. “Playing is allowed, but it carries risks.”
In the same interview, Pauline Hot singled out the way betting has fused with the experience of watching sport. “There is an increasingly structural link, an assimilation, between sporting pleasure and sports betting,” she said, adding that it raises questions about protecting “not only minors, but also young adults aged 18 to 25.”
That tension, between a legal industry pushing hard for market share and a regulator trying to keep gambling from becoming “just another product”, is sharpened by a second pressure point: the illegal online market.
An industry barometer published by AFJEL, the association of online gambling operators, has claimed that illegal online gambling in France now attracts more players than the regulated sector, estimating 5.4 million people on the black market versus 3.5 million using legal operators in 2025, alongside an estimated €2bn in gross gaming revenue. The report also pointed to extensive online advertising by unlicensed sites, arguing that aggressive marketing is fuelling harmful play while depriving the state of tax revenue.
That reality creates an uncomfortable paradox for the regulator. Operators argue that advertising is needed to steer consumers towards legal offers; public health advocates counter that a louder legal market can still intensify gambling overall, while illegal sites continue to proliferate.
In its new report on 2026 promotional strategies, however, the ANJ again floated tougher tools it wants lawmakers to consider, including a television “whistle-to-whistle” ban that would prohibit betting adverts from five minutes before a match to five minutes after, tighter limits on sponsorship, and stronger protections for vulnerable groups, such as loss-limiting tools for 18–25-year-olds.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, but your next deal could be. From 02 to 05 November 2026 the city becomes the heartbeat of global iGaming when SiGMA World opens its gates. With 30,000 delegates, 1,200+ sponsors and exhibitors, and 550+ expert speakers, history is calling at the mother of all conferences.
