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France’s illegal sports-betting market has continued to grow as during the recent Euro 2024 football competition illegal online casinos continued to lure players away from the licensed market, according to the French Online Gaming Association (AFJEL).
France's men's international football team only reached the round of 16 in 2022 compared with reaching the semi-final in 2024, which has further sparked concern among the trade group members as, despite the improved success on the field, licensed operators recorded around 50 percent of the €1 bn the ANJ predicted would be staked, according to AFJEL’s announcement on July 15.
Nicolas Béraud, the president of AFJEL, said that an initial assessment of data from Euro 2024 by AFJEL members revealed that the illegal market has been expanding 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. More than 4 million players are now exposed to major risks,” Béraud said.
Data revealing that 4m players gamble on the black market was published by the National Gambling Authority (ANJ) in April 2024, prompting AFJEL to call for the legalisation of online casino games.
AFJEL's members include Betclic, Betsson, Entain (Bwin), Flutter (PokerStars), Genybet, Kindred (Unibet), Netbet, Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU) and Vbet.
Initial data for Euro 2024 gathered by these members has shown there has been no increase in the total value of stakes placed compared with Euro 2021, which took place in 2022, according to AFJEL's press release.
