French regulator tells operators to deepen safer gambling work
France’s gambling regulator has given the industry a mixed but broadly constructive verdict on its latest safer gambling plans, praising “real efforts” across the sector while warning that those gains will have to be strengthened over time if the market is to meet the country’s public health goals.
In a statement published at the beginning of April, the French regulator, ANJ, said it had reviewed annual action plans on excessive gambling and underage gambling from the full spectrum of licensed operators: the two monopoly holders, 17 licensed online operators, 210 casinos and gaming clubs, and 231 racecourses.
The regulator approved the plans overall, but made clear that reducing the number of excessive gamblers by 2027 remains a central priority, and that operators will be expected to show tangible and measurable results, not just procedures on paper.
The OFDT, the French public body that monitors addiction trends, estimated that 51.6% of adults aged 18 to 75 gambled in 2023, with around 810,000 classified as moderate-risk gamblers and 360,000 as high-risk gamblers. The same report said the share of problem gamblers had not changed significantly since 2019.
ANJ shifts the test from compliance to outcomes
In France’s online sector, which is limited to lottery, sports betting, horse-race betting and poker, the ANJ said systems for identifying excessive or pathological play had improved, with the number of players flagged by operators rising from 31,000 in 2024 to 89,000 in 2025. That increase suggests operators’ detection models have become more sensitive, though not necessarily that problem gambling itself has increased, according to the regulator.
Even so, the regulator’s view is that identification rates still need to better reflect the size of operators’ player bases and broader prevalence data. In other words, better detection is welcome, but the ANJ does not yet believe the industry is seeing the full picture.
For operators, that means rising pressure to prove that safer gambling is producing measurable results, not just satisfying regulatory requirements. The focus is increasingly on whether technology is catching risky play early enough, whether interventions are timely, and whether follow-up is meaningful.
FDJ United, the French gambling group that holds exclusive rights over lottery games and retail sports betting, struck that note in its 2025 integrated report, saying: “Responsible gaming is non-negotiable. Our model’s sustainability depends on it.” It added that it had introduced new detection tools for digital play and allocated 10.8% of its advertising spend in France to responsible gaming in 2025.
Retail, casinos and racecourses face a more practical test
For the land-based operations of FDJ United and PMU, which together account for nearly two-thirds of the French gambling market, the ANJ said stricter enforcement of the ban on underage sales at points of sale remains essential. It wants broader and more risk-based inspections, a tougher sanctions framework, and more effective systems for spotting and supporting excessive gamblers in retail environments.
That will be a familiar argument inside French policy circles. Pauline Hot, the ANJ’s director general, put the regulator’s philosophy plainly last year: “Even if gambling is authorised and regulated, it should not become a product of everyday consumption,” she told SiGMA News, “Playing is allowed, but it carries risks.” A philosophy that has framed the ANJ’s wider approach, from sports betting advertising to retail sales and newer online products.
Casinos received a similarly nuanced judgment. The ANJ said some groups, independent venues and gaming clubs were producing solid results, and it welcomed growing partnerships with addiction specialists and local treatment centres. More than 2,200 people have now completed the regulator’s e-learning module for the sector. But it also said that too many venues still identify and support too few excessive gamblers relative to footfall.
Only one casino saw its plan rejected outright, a sign that the ANJ is willing to escalate where it believes standards are not being met.
Racecourses, meanwhile, were told to sharpen the boundary between family entertainment and betting areas. The regulator also wants closer scrutiny of activities aimed at children, so that they do not amount to an indirect introduction to gambling.
The black market remains the industry’s blind spot
The ANJ is signalling once more that the long-term credibility of the sector will depend on whether operators can show that growth, detection, intervention and consumer protection can sit together in a way that is credible to regulators and to the public. That effort, however, sits alongside a harder reality: a growing share of demand is already moving beyond the regulated perimeter.
AFJEL, the French online gambling trade association, said in November 2025 that the illegal online market counted 5.4 million players, against 3.5 million in the regulated online sector, and generated an estimated €2bn in gross gaming revenue. As the illegal market expands, the risk for France is not only commercial leakage from licensed operators, but the loss of the very protections the regulator is trying to enforce. In the legal market, the ANJ can demand checks, interventions and follow-up. On unlicensed sites, it cannot impose any of them.
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