French Gambling Regulator Reviewing “Highly Controlled” iGaming Legalization

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France’s gambling regulator, l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has released its 2024 annual report, highlighting record levels of online betting in France as well as heightened efforts to regulate and address problem gambling.

While online sports betting is legal in France, online casinos remain illegal, with opposition from land-based casinos. Nevertheless, the ANJ has announced it has discussed “highly regulated” iGaming legalization with the previous and current French governments. 

iGB reports that French gambling participation is on the rise, with active player accounts up 11% in 2024, theorizing that this could be partly attributed to French sporting successes that year. iGB also revealed that there could be renewed French iGaming legislation by early 2026.

Despite the growth in the sector, ANJ stresses that problem gambling remains a serious concern. ANJ had earlier announced that over 38% of revenue comes from problem gamblers, and it is exploring international approaches to gambling to limit the risks of gambling addiction in France. 

The regulator is focused on tackling the social harms of problem gambling and has issued significant punitive fines—up to €800,000 in January 2025—and blocked over 1,300 illegal gambling URLs.

ANJ also highlighted concerns over heavy marketing budgets. Operators plan to spend nearly €695 million on promotions in 2025—a 11% increase—which could exacerbate addictive behaviors.

While concerns about responsible gambling are shared in jurisdictions worldwide, at present, France is among the only countries in Europe where online casino games are illegal.