French regulator reports successful World Cup advertising crackdown

The French regulator ANJ says operators generally reacted well to its campaign for the football World Cup to “de-intensify” gambling advertising.

Autorité Nationale des Jeux reports that a “change in tone was observed,” with less emphasis placed on external signs of wealth or false beliefs about the possibility of changing social status through sports betting.

There was also less “blatant” targeting of young people from working-class neighbourhoods, the ANJ said.

The commitments made in TV, radio and billboards were “generally respected,” while the transparency of financial incentives such as welcome bonuses has “improved,” the regulator added.

The €100 limit on the welcome bonus recommended by the ANJ was “generally applied by sports betting operators.”

The ANJ set up the pre-World Cup campaign after noticing “unprecedented” advertising pressure during the European Championships in 2021.

Its two-part plan included guidelines for advertising content and financial incentives, a well as recommendations for reducing advertising pressure across all media channels and moderating bonus offers.

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, chairwoman of the ANJ, 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.

“Nevertheless, this pressure remains strong and concerns the regulator, in a context where the latest OFDT studies show an increase in excessive gambling.

“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.”