The French gaming oversight body, the National Gambling Authority (ANJ), has voiced “serious worries” regarding the marketing tactics employed by lottery operator Française des Jeux (FDJ) and horse racing monopoly Pari-Mutuel Urbain (PMU) in its initial yearly assessment of operator promotional campaigns.
The ANJ emphasized key aspects of its enforcement efforts in the marketing activities of licensed operators as it commences its first full year as France’s consolidated gambling regulator. It specifically concentrated on areas categorized as “points of caution”, such as safeguarding minors and preventing problematic gambling. The ANJ mandated all operators to submit their marketing strategies at the start of the year and stated it could “utilize its authority” to counter potentially problematic campaigns. The regulator examined the strategies of all 14 licensed private operators and the nation’s two state-owned monopolies, FDJ and PMU, and identified some concerning areas within the industry. It indicated that the targeting of young individuals in these strategies had “escalated”, with operators placing more advertisements on platforms geared towards teenagers, such as Snapchat and TikTok.
Moreover, ANJ highlighted that advertising funds rose by 26% in comparison to 2019, the previous comparable year before the 2020 pandemic, with the majority of the spending focused on significant sporting events such as the European Football Championship and the Olympics.
The regulatory body also observed an increase in the practice of “actively motivating” players through rewards or tailored advertisements, cautioning that this could worsen gambling dependency problems.
Following this, ANJ specifically identified two monopoly operators, expressing “serious worries” about their advertising strategies, particularly considering that monopolies should only offer “moderate and strictly restricted” advertising.
The regulatory body added that it will “remain watchful” to ensure that these operators do not promote gambling under the pretense of “public benefit.”
Lastly, the regulatory body declared that it will be “very cautious” in 2021 to guarantee that underage individuals and those with gambling issues are shielded from marketing.
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