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France’s National Gaming Authority (ANJ) has issued eight fines and one warning to operators for exceeding the return to player rate (RTP) for online sports betting in the year 2022.
According to the law, online sports-betting operators cannot redistribute back to their players more than 85 percent of the stakes they have placed with them.
In March of this year, the ANJ took action to refer the nine operators to the sanctions committee. In documents provided by the ANJ, all nine operators remain anonymous, identified only as “company x”.
The anonymity was justified only as “the Sanctions Committee decided not to attach publicity measures to these sanctions”.
The fines were a record high, ranging from €5,000 to €150,000 ($5,255 to $157,657).
A company that was fined €150,000 argued that it had only exceeded the ceiling by 0.3 percent and that the miscalculation was partially due to “the exceptional nature of the year 2022 in terms of sports betting, in particular due to the football World Cup which resulted in a record level of bets”. It also argued that it should get off with a warning as “the commission has so far only imposed financial penalties in exceptional circumstances”.
The FIFA World Cup was a popular reason for operators to list in their defence, with one fined €5,000 claiming that “the very good performance of the French team in the football World Cup has also increased its annual TRJ [RTP] by 0.30 points”.
In its press release, the ANJ stated: "The greater severity of the sanctions imposed by these decisions demonstrates the Commission's desire to effectively enforce the objectives set out by the legislator, to the achievement of which compliance with the TRJ contributes, and to prevent any repetition of the breaches in question."
The limitation is meant to discourage money laundering through sports betting, as it lowers the rate of return for invested laundered funds, and prevents addictive behaviours.
It is not to be confused with the player rate of return from slot machines or casinos, which have a minimum RTP of 85 percent.
The fines have a two-month window in which they can be appealed.
