France Sweating On World Cup Launch

27th November, 2009

The bill to open up the online betting market in France is being held up by a morass of other legislation and may not become law on April 1 next year as the French government intended.

The proposal, which will open up the French online market to operators other than the Pari-Mutuel Urbain (off-course tote), has already gone successfully through the Chambre des Deputes (House of Commons).

The next stage is for the bill - which has proceeded to the general satisfaction of the racing industry - to be debated in the Senat (upper house) - but this is now unlikely to happen until the beginning ofnext year.

Online betting currently represents around ten per cent of turnover, which last year came to €9.3 billion.

When the PMU monopoly is eventually broken, other operators will be licensed, but bets on horse racing will be allowed only on a pari-mutuel basis. Wagers on other sports like football, rugby, tennis and events like the Tour de France will be at fixed odds.

Early this month, the PMU signed a partnership agreement with the Dublin-based bookmaker Paddy Power, whose expertise will be used to guide the French institution when they offer fixed-odds betting to the public for the first time next year.

The PMU is hoping to capture between 20 and 25 percent ofthe online betting market when it eventually opens.

Despite the likely delay, the government will be hoping to be up and running before the football World Cup, which begins on June 11.

(Content provided by Racing Post and is protected by copyright).