France Approves 2026 Gambling Ad Budgets
France's gambling regulator, the Autorite Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has approved the 2026 promotional strategies of all 17 licensed online betting and gaming operators plus the two exclusive-rights operators, FDJ and PMU, attaching tighter conditions after actual 2025 spending came in below forecast.
The annual review, which the ANJ has carried out every year since May 2010, weighs operators' legitimate right to advertise against the need to prevent excessive or pathological gambling and to protect minors.
2025 Spending Fell 8% Short of Forecasts
Operators' promotional investment in 2025, covering both marketing and financial incentives such as bonuses, finished 8% below the budgets they had announced at the start of the year, the ANJ said.
The regulator linked the undershoot in part to a new 15% tax on marketing spend that took effect in July 2025.
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Promotional Budgets Set to Jump 25% for 2026
For 2026, a year with the Winter Olympics and the FIFA World Cup on the calendar, operators plan to increase total promotional investment by 25% (plus 156 million euros) to 785 million euros.
That figure splits into 319 million euros of marketing spend, up 28% and now 40% of the overall budget, with the World Cup months of June and July alone accounting for 21% of that marketing budget.
Financial incentives and bonuses, the ANJ's term for player gratifications, are set to rise 23% to 466 million euros and now make up 60% of total promotional spend. Sports sponsorship spend is also climbing, up 14% year on year.
The ANJ said most operators are primarily focused on consolidating their existing player base in a highly competitive market, leaning on retention-focused bonuses rather than pure acquisition. It also flagged growing use of cross-selling, where operators convert a customer recruited for sports betting into a poker player by offering attractive financial incentives.
Traditional TV and outdoor advertising is also making a partial comeback, though digital channels still dominate with 44% of spend; the regulator noted a parallel rise in TV and radio sponsorship, which gives operators cheaper access to traditional media than standard ad space.
ANJ Imposes New Conditions for the First Time
The regulator approved all 2026 strategies but, for the first time, required every operator not to exceed its announced overall budget and to strictly limit shifting funds from one spending line to another, a condition the ANJ said could trigger specific compliance checks.
Some operators were also told to cut their marketing or social-media budgets, or to show more restraint in executing sports-sponsorship deals, while one unnamed operator was told to significantly reduce its retention-bonus spending.
Tighter Rules Flagged Ahead
The ANJ said it will work with French advertising self-regulator ARPP to closely monitor the content of new ad creative.
It also repeated three proposals it has previously put forward to rein in marketing spend around the tournament: a "whistle to whistle" ban on TV betting ads in the five minutes before kick-off, during the match and for five minutes after; tighter controls on sponsorship deals; and a stronger loss limiter for 18 to 25 year old bettors.
