Sport is made for betting

For several years, there has been much debate about German law and the licensing of sports betting. It's a country divided up into provinces which often have conflicting laws. Most, if not all, of the 'legal' online betting licences in Germany stem from former East German regions which were somehow able to offer things which weren't allowed elsewhere in the unified country. Now with the EU pushing hard for all member states to allow/regulate online gambling, Germany decided it had better follow suit before it got dragged through the courts forever and a day. And this is what they come up with.... Germany’s non-ratified sports betting proposals 7 five-year licences to be issued 16.67% turnover tax Live betting but only on final result. No in-play Only land based casinos would be able to operate online casino Sports betting advertising only allowed on or in sports arenas and club shirts and not on television ----- France is the most recent big European nat...

Ladbrokes have joined the list of UK firms avoiding setting up in France under the current unviable licensing structure. Several firms have simply decided not to waste their time and money in a market which will deliver nothing for several years, and only if/after the French government water down the current prohibitive licensing and taxation structure. The last straw for Ladbrokes was when the French govt decided on top of extortionate turnover tax and sports rights levies, they would also have to pay VAT as well. Unibet however, who have a similar model to Bwin, of taking vast numbers of low-stake bets, are pressing on. The Betfair IPO is off to a good start. Conditional trading has the shares trading at around £15.30, after the initial valuation of £13. Tomorrow is the acid test for them though, when they become available to the public. Betsson is going from strength to strength as live betting pushes their revenues higher. Bwin, Hills and Sportingbet have released similarly h...

Complaints this week in Monaco at the first gaming industry conference centred upon France with Mangas (BetClic, Expect, bet-at-home) CEO Nicolas Beraud claiming the anti-problem gambling directives from the French government are actually having the reverse effect - players lose their money quicker with higher margins and thus want to bet more as they chase their losses.... French player returns uncompetitive says Mangas boss Mangas Gaming chief executive Nicolas Beraud has called for the French authorities to increase what it currently allows to pay back to players, as the current 85% limit is failing in its publicly declared aim of protecting the consumer. Speaking yesterday on the Online Sports & Horse Betting Markets panel at France’s first ever egaming conference, Monaco iGaming Exchanges, Beraud said: “Today, we cannot give better than an 85% return to the player, which means the odds are not competitive compared to other markets. It is an incentive for players to try ...

The whole premise of French protectionism over gambling was to protect the PMU, the local racing tote which funds the local racing industry. The French government have shown their distaste for Betfair and exchange betting from day one, and fixed-odds betting on horse racing for any other operator has not been approved either. So in that case, why would they licence two competing pari-mutuel operators to bet on French horse racing? They won't be allowed shops which will mean pool liquidity can only struggle. Geny Infos (genbet.fr) was last night granted a licence for pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, as was ZeTurf France (zeturf.fr), a company which have 'illegally' tried to compete with the PMU for many years. So they licence a firm which has consistently broken the rules in the past, and yet not Betfair who had made no attempt to target France until the last 18 months or so, before ceasing all activity there to conform with the new law. Perhaps it's the governm...

As the French government is finally about to push the button to permit online wagering in France and its territories, supposedly in time for the World Cup (gee, don't leave it too late), the big boys are doing the 'proper' thing according to their boards and getting out. William Hill and Betfair have both announced plans to cease doing business with French residents from June, while they consider their plans of whether to seek a local licence of their own, acquire one via a joint venture or continue with legal action. They won't be the only ones. But will the 'ceasing business' be genuine, or a token effort to appease lazy authorities like elsewhere in Europe?

So the French National Assembly have passed the online gambling bill with the remaining procedures before it is implemented merely a formality. But what is actually going to achieve for French punters and foreign companies? It will be slow progress. Those French punters already playing with offshore firms will continue to bet where they do, simply because they will be able to get a better deal. Firms obtaining a French licence may be able to advertise locally, but if the proposed level of taxation and possible sports levies are passed, then firms will have to pass that cost onto consumers. If they don't, it will be a major cost against their bottom line. Firms such as Ladbrokes and William Hill are expected to take a patient approach, expecting the regulations to gradually become more competitive, as is the case in Italy. Companies entering the French market will not be allowed to cover horse racing, one of the most attractive parts of the French betting market, due to government p...

No surprise really, a sporting authority meddling in team affairs for the sake of it... Betclic hits out at UEFA shirt ban: 'no legal basis' BETCLIC chief executive Nicolas Béraud has hit out at UEFA’s refusal to let French football team Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon) wear his company’s logo for tonight’s Champions League tie with Real Madrid, saying it has “no legal basis”. UEFA have banned Lyon from wearing shirts depicting BetClic as their sponsor, a deal they signed many months ago, because the French government are taking as long as physically possible to delay the enactment of local gambling regulations which are supposed to comply with European Union directives. Rather a big free kick for Bwin, sponsor of Real Madrid, tonight then....

Yesterday, the French Senate decided to adopt the bill aiming to "open market competition for gambling online." But sadly, their citizens will still be ripped off by limited competition, high margins and poor options. Read the translated article from sospronostics.com Sports betting, live betting, poker and betting on horse racing was approved (no detail whether fixed-odds racing was given the nod). Exchange and spread betting remain prohibited, "because of the risk of money laundering and ease of addiction worse than this may cause." There is nothing like dealing with an authority which makes up its own data, and then buries its head in the sand when proven otherwise. Every online transaction can be traced to IP addresses, bank accounts, counterparties etc - exactly how does that compare with cash transactions in PMU outlets and land casinos. Just look at the record of Australian casinos for a history of money laundering, and without a doubt that happens in every o...

Could a politician attempt a more impossible task than this one? New EU Commissioner Wants to Settle Online Gambling Mess The confusion over online gambling in EU member states is set to be ironed out by new Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier, a move that will be closely followed by Malta. France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Germany, Norway, Poland, Sweden.. the list goes on of countries who want to set their own rules and defy European Union directives, or at least bend them a bit. Forcing these EU members states to comply is like telling banks they have to start responsible and not giving out individual bonuses bigger than the GDP of a third-world country. Or trying to get football players to act as role models and respect referees like rugby players. In a line from the classic Aussie film, The Castle, "Tell him he's dreaming!". In another note, I notice that Betfair have given up their respect/fear of French authority and now have the betting site in French as we...

This was always going to happen - maybe not this particular change, but like any negotiations, you start with a ridiculous offer, then gradually become more realistic. Betting operators in France will no longer have to close down all French accounts from the time the law is voted until the licences are awarded, but they will have to transfer them all to the .fr site once approved and operating in France. A pain in the arse maybe, but not the end of the world, after all, that's what Betfair did with accounts in Australia & NZ when they got the Tasmanian licence. Operators in France escape player account shut downs And to counter their position, they've decided to increase penalties on firms not seeking French licences. Yeah, can really see that one working....

William Hill's plans to take over the world are taking a hit - now they are pulling out of Spain, just a year after giving up on Italy. I doubt they'll be bothering with applying for a French licence then. For all that time and money invested, they are selling their share in the joint venture for the grand sum of one euro. That's two heavy losses in Europe from two - even Celtic aren't that bad when they travel!

Irish betting giant Paddy Power has struck gold with a five-year partnership with French sports betting duopoly PMU. New Paddy Power B2B arm signs landmark deal with France's PMU PADDY POWER HAS MADE a major play for the French market, signing a five-year deal with French duopoly operator Pari Mutuel Urbain (PMU), the largest single operator in Europe, via a new Paddy Power business-to-business (B2B) division. ... PMU chief executive and chairman Philippe Germond today said: "This partnership is going to enable PMU to offer sporting bets online under its own brand and retain direct management of its client database. Paddy Power will provide us with its expertise in sports betting. Through this partnership PMU is given the means to be ready for the opening of the online betting market in France next year." Paddy Power's traders will set PMU odds, set risk parameters for each event, bet type and customer and manage PMU’s online promotions from Dublin. Chances are they w...

And you thought your politicians/courts were hopeless! (Applies to just about every nation in the world) 'Rights Recognition' Lands Unibet €1.2m French Fine Unibet has become the first victim of the highly controversial ‘sports betting right’ which is yet to be formally adopted in France, but which has been retroactively applied to the online gaming and betting operator by a Paris court this week. As a result, Unibet must now pay €300,000 to the Roland Garros tennis tournament in recognition of the ownership right, in addition to a further €900,000 in penalties. So a law which hasn't been introduced yet and will never receive EU approval now says Unibet has to hand over 1.2m euro for something which happened in the past. Funnily enough, Unibet will be challenging the decision.

Don't expect any companies moving to France in a hurry after the National Assembly voted to introduce licensing regulation for online wagering. Amongst the ridiculous items in the bill: - all accounts held by French citizens must be closed down until the respective company is licensed and situated on French soil - all markets must have a best pay back return of 85% (imagine betting on tennis or NFL with markets of 1.74/1.74!!) - big chunk (8%) of turnover (not profit) to be paid to the government and then the operator must negotiate with the respective sports bodies to pay more for the privilege again This will get struck down by the EU - all it does is protect the govt run duopoly of the PMU and FdJ. No competitive business will put up with such crap. European Gaming and Betting Association Secretary General Sigrid Ligne said “At the time when Europe is watching the developments of France’s reform, the introduction of even more unjustified restrictions is threatening to corrupt th...

Despite egamingreview claiming Betfair were over the line six weeks ago , the French government have drafted their new online betting legislation this week, with a specific prohibition for betting exchanges. French government's new gambling law bans Betfair and all exchanges The French government has effectively outlawed the online betting exchange Betfair after passing an amendment to new gambling laws. These are being closely watched by sports bodies in the UK which are lobbying the government to bring in similar regulations. Under a surprise last-minute amendment, betting exchanges such as Betfair that allow punters to lay as well as place bets were excluded from the legislation in a move that the company described as "discriminatory". ... Passing the amendment, the French parliament also referred to a 2007 report from the British Gambling Commission that said 9.8% of punters using betting exchanges developed gambling addictions, compared to a rate of between one and t...

When it comes to European nations taking their time to adhere to European Union directives regarding breaking down the monopolies of state-run gambling companies, you can't be surprised that the French have been dragging their heels on it. ZeTurf, a Maltese-based gambling firm which focuses on French racing, angered the French government last week when a 'press release' appeared in the free daily Metro paper in Paris, just two days before the Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe. Zeturf French advertising condemned Online operators have become increasingly impatient in recent months ahead of the market liberalisation which is planned for early 2010, entering into media and sports sponsorship deals as they compete to establish themselves ahead of the market opening. France’s proposed gambling bill will be presented to the National Assembly for discussion on Wednesday.

According to this report from Egamingreview they are. The only problem is, the French government will drag the process out as long as they possibly can to protect their local monopolies, while making it look like they are complying with European Union directives. Betfair get clearance from France ahead of liberalisation Interesting comment at the bottom, with someone disputing whether France have even established their gaming regulatory authority yet...