Il College of the National Gaming Authority examined the 2024 promotional strategies of French gambling operators. On this occasion, several points of vigilance common to the operators were identified: the maintenance of high-level advertising investments, particularly on digital, the concentration of campaigns from May to July, a high amount allocated to economic prizes to recruit and retain bettors and the use of sports sponsorships. The French gaming authority (ANJ) has published demanding requirements and also decided to partially reject an operator's strategy, on the financial rewards aspect.

Every year, gambling operators, whether monopoly or competitive, must submit their promotional strategy to the National Gambling Authority for approval. The ANJ examines this latter aspect in light of the objectives of state gambling policy and, more specifically, the prevention of excessive or pathological gambling and the protection of minors.

When examining these promotional strategies, the ANJ analysis grid takes into account the balance to be found between the legitimate use of advertising by operators to promote the legal gaming offer and the need not to encourage excessive or pathological and to protect minors. The reference framework for the prevention of excessive and pathological gambling and the protection of minors adopted in 2021 provides operational instructions to operators in implementing these obligations.

Criteria analysis and conditional approvals

The ANJ carried out an analysis of the promotional strategies for 2024 of the 16 approved online operators and the 2 exclusive operators (FDJ and PMU).

In 2024, most operators intend to continue the strategy implemented in 2023, characterized by the desire to retain players, in a context of strong sporting activity around the European Championships and the Olympic Games.

The review of promotional strategies 2024 highlighted different points of vigilance:

• Promotional investments growing by 14%. The operators plan to commit 670 million euros with a concentration between May and July on the occasion of the European football tournament and the Paris Olympics. 30% of the investments will be allocated in these 3 months;
• 46% of media investments will be made on digital channels, particularly effective levers in terms of player capture and retention. Other investments will be made mainly in TV (26%) and sports sponsorships (15%);
• The financial rewards they are the number one marketing item for operators (59% of investments), which reflects their desire to retain their customer base; 82% of these investments are represented by 5 operators. The operators also aim to recruit 4,9 million new players in 2022, an increase of 9% compared to 2023.

In light of these supervisory points, the ANJ approved the promotional strategies presented by the operators, but subordinated its decisions to demanding conditions, asking some of them to:

• significantly moderate their promotional strategy so as not to exert excessive advertising pressure across all the different existing media, in particular during the period of Euro 2024 and the Paris Olympic Games;
• adopt moderate use of the most incentivized promotional tools, particularly for offers with an increased risk of problem gambling (including fast-paced poker tournaments, live betting and high stakes betting);
• ensure, on the one hand, that financial rewards intended to recruit or retain players remain moderate and understandable by the public and, on the other hand, not offer such bonuses to players that it identifies as potentially excessive or pathological.

Partial rejection of WINAMAX promotional strategy for the financial reward component

Finally, the ANJ Board of Directors decided to partially reject WINAMAX's promotional strategy on the aspect relating to bonuses and financial rewards. Indeed, the ANJ considers that the company's strategy presents, given the considerable volume of financial rewards expected, their permanent distribution with each gambling action and the fact that they can be converted into bets or poker, a significant risk of intensification of gambling practices, a risk that is aggravated in the most vulnerable players.

WINAMAX must submit, no later than February 15, 2024, a new application for approval dedicated to commercial offers with financial reward.