The French gaming regulator, the National Gaming Authority (ANJ), has been very active since it took over from ARJEL (the Online Gaming Regulatory Authority). The transfer took place a few months ago as the country sought to consolidate its oversight of the game, paving the way for a singular federal authority and engaging political leader Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin to become the first ANJ president. Checking off another item on its long to-do checklist, the regulator announced this week that it has allowed ten online sportsbooks to retain their licenses. He also welcomed a new player to space.Online gambling was launched in France about ten years ago, and the industry has seen modest success since then. Licenses are issued for five years, and this program will continue until everyone decides that different license terms are warranted. There are now 14 sports game licensees in the country, including a newcomer to the space looking to grab some of the action controlled by others. NJJ Project Thirteen targets sports betting and horse racing, and will operate under the GényBet brand.
In total, between sports games of chance, horse racing and online gambling, France has issued 19 licenses, some operators holding more than one license. The list includes BES SAS (operator of bwin.fr and partypoker.fr), Betclic Enterprises Ltd (betclic.fr), France Pari (France-pari.fr and feelingbet.fr), Project Thirteen, GM Gaming Ltd. (betway. fr), Joaonline (joaclub.fr, joa-club.fr, joa-online.fr and joaonline.fr), La Française des Jeux (parionsweb.fr, parionsweb.fdj.fr and enligne.parionssport.fdj. fr), Netbet FR SAS (netbet.fr and netbetsport.fr), Pari Mutuel Urbain (pmu.fr), Reel Malta Ltd. (pokerstars.fr, pokerstarsmobile.fr, betstars.fr and pokerstarssports.fr), SPS Betting France Ltd. (Unibet.fr), Vivaro Ltd., (vbet.fr, pasinobet.fr and barrierebet.fr), Winamax (Winamax.fr) and Zeturf France Ltd., (zeturf.fr and zebet.fr).
Vivaro is a subsidiary of BetConstruct, which manages its B2C operations. The barrierebet.fr site completes its portfolio approved by the ANJ and is the result of a partnership with the Barrière Group, a French hotel and leisure company.
Licensees are required to respect a framework of strict controls in order to maintain their activities in France. The ANJ pays close attention to such things as player protection, sporting integrity, secure advertising and more, and infractions, depending on their seriousness, could lead the regulator to decide not to approve a license renewal. With the license renewals, operators have received an overall health check, although ANJ won’t stray too far. Pari-Mutuel Urbain was slapped with a massive $ 1 million fine by ARJEL just before the transfer, and ANJ will want to make sure that, like everyone else, plays by the rules.
Online games continue to attract larger crowds in France. This year, it has received a boost due to forced lockdowns by COVID-19 everywhere, and gross online gaming revenue in the country has seen a slight uptick. ANJ says that in the first half of the year, the GGR for online games was 758 million euros ($ 893.15 million), an increase of 8% year over year. ‘other.
https://www.fr24news.com/a/2020/09/french-gaming-regulator-says-yes-to-10-sports-betting-license-renewals.html