Casinos de France criticises online casino legalisation plans
Table of contents
- Casinos de France warns that online casino legalisation could lead to €546 million annual loss for public finances.
- The trade group highlights potential job losses and reduced municipal revenues from a shift away from land-based casinos.
- Concerns raised over player protection and increased social costs linked to online gambling.
France’s leading land-based casino trade association, Casinos de France, has criticised the government’s proposal to legalise online casinos, arguing it would damage public finances and local communities. The association claims that authorising online casinos could cost the state around €546 million each year.
Financial impact on land-based
Casinos de France’s estimates include indirect effects such as increased social costs and job losses linked to online gambling. The land-based casino sector currently comprises 203 casinos and seven gaming clubs in Paris, employing over 31,000 people. It generates roughly €1.6 billion annually in tax and social security contributions, with about €600 million directed to local municipalities.
The association warns that legalisation would not expand the market but shift players online, resulting in closures of smaller physical venues, job losses, and diminished local budgets. This could undermine the economic and social fabric supported by land-based casinos.
Concerns about player protection and social costs
Casinos de France emphasises the benefits of in-person gambling, such as live supervision, which helps protect vulnerable players. These protections, it states, are difficult to replicate online.
The president of Casinos de France, Grégory Rabuel, highlighted the risks to mental health and described the financial impact of increased social costs as running into hundreds of millions of euros.
“It’s not just about casinos, but about destruction of local jobs, reduction of municipal budgets, the withering away of cultural life in towns and villages,” said Mr Rabuel. “I’m not even mentioning the impact on the mental health of the French, which would amount to hundreds of millions in additional costs for social security”.
Government’s response to the black market
The government’s proposal seeks to regulate the online casino market to curb an estimated black market generating between €748 million and €1.5 billion a year.
Legalisation and taxation aim to recover lost revenue and better protect consumers. Some proposals include granting initial exclusivity to land-based operators to ensure a balanced transition.
Conflicting priorities
The debate over online casino legalisation highlights tensions between economic interests in preserving land-based casinos and the need to modernise regulation for online gambling. Decisions in the near future will shape the market landscape, affecting jobs, municipal finances, and public health policies.
Operators, regulators, and investors will closely watch how France balances these competing priorities to secure a sustainable, fair gambling market with effective player protections.
Sources: Casino News Daily, World Casino Directory, Casinos de France official press release
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