Unlicensed gambling led French bookmakers to take half the bets expected on Euro 2024

The online gaming association AFJEL says there are more betters on the black market than using licensed bookmakers.

France.- The online gaming association AFJEL has said that unlicensed betting led its members to take around half of the handle estimated for Euro 2024. The French gambling regulator ANJ had predicted that French bettors would wager €1bn on the tournament in Germany. However, the final figure was around half of that.

AFJEL warned that illegal gambling had reached the point that there were now more people using unlicensed operators than licensed ones, with four million using the black market in 2023, compared to 3.6 million people placing bets on the regulated market. It said betting volumes on the regulated market were down 25 per cent compared to the 2022 World Cup and remained flat compared with the last Euro 2020. That tournament saw online bets total €343m, with La Francaise des Jeux’s retail network posting the total handle to €500m.

AFJEL said the figures illustrated a continuing trend. It claims there was zero growth in the licensed market in 2022 and 2023 and a 5.3 per cent drop in the number of unique players. Those figures contrast with data from the ANJ.

“This development, contrary to European trends and the digitalisation of the sector, confirms the massive diversion of players from the legal offer to the illegal market, the impact and danger of which cannot be precisely assessed at this stage,” the association said.

AFJEL president Nicolas Béraud said that Euro 2024 had been a success among members from the point of view of player protection, with members following ANJ guidelines and respecting commitments to limit marketing. But he warned that unlicensed operators had “complete impunity” and that blocking illegal sites was failing to halt the growth of the black market.

He said: “If Euro 2024 shows surprisingly low results for licensed operators, the illegal market is now continuing its strong expansion by cannibalising the online sports betting sector and diverting players from the legal offer.

“Illegal online casino sites have offered, with complete impunity, a sports betting offer on Euro 2024 with very attractive odds and without any player protection measures. Despite the actions taken by the regulator, the blocking of illegal sites is still not working.”

The ANJ had launched an awareness and prevention campaign on gambling harm ahead of Euro 2024. Designed by the agency Rosbeef!, the campaign appeared to criticise the mandatory warnings on gambling operators’ ads, suggesting that they were insufficient to highlight the risks of sports betting addiction.

The campaign included stories of addiction and directed people to the Evalujeu website, which provides tools for the evaluation of gambling habits and access to advice and support services. There were digital display ads, social ads on Snapchat, a digital audio radio spot, publication in So Foot and video clips with player testimonials.