A clash between legal gaming operators. This is what is happening in France these days. “For some years, the treatment of the regulator (National Autorité des Jeux) seems to us to be more favorable towards the FdJ than that reserved for all gambling sectors”.
This is what they claim casino operators in a letter to Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. This letter was signed by the Fédération Casinos de France, the Association des Casinos Indépendants Franais and several companies including the Partouche, Barrier and Tranchant groups.
Operators denounce "serious distortions of competition" such as "access without identity documents, the ease of offering new games, the lack of control in points of sale unlike casinos" or "the use of the same account as the FDJ customer for games under a monopoly regime and the games available to operators".
They also denounce an "aggressive expansion policy of the FDJ" through progressive acquisitions of companies active in competitive markets (Addition, Aleda, Sporting Group, etc.), as the "FDJ uses its exclusive rights activities as leverage to promote and develop its own service offerings in competitive markets".
The letter refers to “news of a possible plan to open online casinos on the French market and a new FDJ monopoly". According to these operators, this is a “new violation of the principles of online gambling management and the balance of the sectors, in particular to the detriment of players”.
Casinos are now “the best situation to operate such a business” because they “enforce the ban on gambling for minors and, more generally, effectively protect players from the risks of addiction.”
“Every year, casinos located on French territory generate more revenue for the state and communities than the tax applied to other operators,” underline the interested parties, who ask to meet the Prime Minister.
“The fight against illegal bidding, which is crucial to mitigating the damage suffered by casinos, should be at the top of the government's objectives,” they say.
The Casinos de France union and the Association des Casinos Indépendants Francois say they have proposed several ways to support the casino sector: updating tax rates based on inflation, which lags by less than 15 years, and the harmonization of various constraints between sectors: entry controls, gaming bans, taxation, regulations and controls of all kinds. (Depositphotos photo)
