EU-Regulated National
France licence.
ANJ
Existing French-market players with M&A capacity; new entrants face severe margin compression. Online casino remains prohibited.
What the regulator asks for
Year one cost
Online casino prohibited; permitted sports/poker costs require category-specific assessment
ANJ authorisation applies to permitted online betting, horse-race betting and poker activities; France does not offer an online casino licence. Do not interpret historic sports or poker licensing charges as a casino startup cost. Confirm latest ANJ fees for the exact permitted activity before any entry decision.
Timeline
Not applicable to online casino
ANJ is rigorous. Pre-application engagement helps. New entrants outside the existing FDJ/PMU/Betclic/Winamax/Unibet/Netbet/Betsson cluster are rare.
Gaming tax
Major hike effective 1 July 2025: online sports betting 59.3% of GGR (state tax 33.7% + social levy 15% + sundry levies). Online poker jumped from 0.2% of stakes to 10% of GGR. Online horse betting state tax + 52.9% levy to racecourse companies. All operators: 15% tax on advertising and promotional spend. AFJEL describes total levy as ~67% of turnover-equivalent.
Marketing climate
Heavy restrictions on sports betting advertising. ANJ saturation warning pre-2026 World Cup capping promotional budgets. Whistle-to-whistle ad ban under consideration. ANJ blocked Polymarket December 2024; February 2026 statement reaffirmed prediction markets are illegal gambling services.
The market
France is now the most heavily-taxed Western online gambling market. Online casino remains expressly prohibited; the October 2024 legalisation proposal was scrapped after industry backlash and remains off the agenda in 2026. Online sports, online poker, and online horse betting are the only legal verticals.
How the application runs
ANJ application: integrity, technical, financial, RG dossier. French entity. Real-time data link to ANJ. RG behavioural-AI tooling: ANJ recorded 89,000 at-risk player detections in 2025 (vs 31,000 in 2024).
Ongoing compliance
National self-exclusion (FDJ-managed register). Mandatory deposit-limit prompts. AML under TRACFIN. Real-time data feed.
What you can and cannot say
Heavy restrictions. 15% advertising tax compounds creative restrictions. Influencer rules tightening.
The honest read
What it means for your plan
France is an incumbent's market. The 2025 tax hikes plus the casino prohibition close the largest GGR vertical and compress sports/poker margins to single digits for all but the largest operators. Suited only to operators with a genuine French sports/poker thesis or an M&A roll-up plan.
For operators planning next steps
From a licence comparison to an operator launch plan
Fees and requirements alone do not establish eligibility or readiness. Confirm current regulatory conditions with the authority and then plan product, payments and implementation.
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