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France’s National Gambling Authority (ANJ) has said it is considering seeking new powers to more closely supervise the gambling marketing, especially on social media.
The information came in an ANJ report on betting on the FIFA Men’s World Cup, on which 70 percent of all bettors lost money and 23 percent won, the regulator said on Thursday (February 2).
The losses might not be surprising in that the favoured French team lost to Argentina in the final, on penalties.
About €80m was wagered on that game alone, according to the ANJ.
Authorities recorded €597m in online wagers with €70m in gross gaming revenue, putting wagers 56 percent ahead of 2018’s World Cup and 37 percent higher than 2021’s Euros.
The regulator cited progress in licensees implementing its 2021 programme to “de-intensify” advertising pressure in media to protect minors and the vulnerable.
Operator pledges to reduce advertising pressure were generally respected, the authority said.
About 49 percent of those surveyed felt there were “too many” sports-betting ads, down from 54 percent in 2018.
The ANJ cited “less emphasis on external signs of wealth or false beliefs about the possibility of changing social status through sports betting and less blatant targeting of young people from working class neighbourhoods”.
Welcome and retention bonuses were more transparent and operators respected a recommended €100 cap on welcome bonuses, the authority said.
But regulators found some operators had mobilized about 100 social media influencers inappropriately promoting betting on channels popular with young people, including YouTube, Instagram and Twitter.
A committee studying sports sponsorships is expected to report in March, the authority said.
“The regulatory mechanism set up by the ANJ in the run-up to the World Cup made it possible, with the tools at its disposal, to contain advertising pressure, and the operators generally played along,” said ANJ chair Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin.
“Nevertheless, this pressure remains strong and concerns the regulator, in a context where the latest OFDT (Observatory of Drugs and Addictive Tendencies) studies show an increase in excessive gambling,” she said.
“The ANJ is therefore considering additional measures that it will propose to the public authorities in the coming months to strengthen the supervision of gambling advertising.”
On the World Cup, more players bet than in 2018, but the average individual bet was slightly smaller, about €11, while total bets throughout the tournament averaged €243, or about the same, ANJ said.
About 2.2m unique players placed 54m bets, about twice the 2018 total.
