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French Bettors Limited

The French courts have renewed the ongoing battle between European online casinos and the French government. France is one of the nearly a dozen EU member-states with monopolistic online gambling legislation in place. Though the European Commission has been in negotiations with the French government to alter the restrictive and protectionist legislation, last week’s ruling is an indication that the situation is further from resolution than many assumed. The French government has been willingly negotiating new terms and legislation for online casino gambling legislation in the country, but the courts are not apparently not on the same page.

The most recent ruling by the French courts has two prominent online casinos and betting sites paying $800,000 in fines for accepting bets on the ongoing Roland-Garros Tennis Championship. The courts ruled that the internet betting companies violated the French Tennis Association’s exclusive rights to profit from the event. According to French law, only the tournament organizers have the right to accept bets on the event, by accepting bets on the tennis game the online casinos "violated the operating monopoly conferred on the French Tennis Federation [as] the organisers of the tournament,” noted the court ruling.

The two online casino gambling and betting sites involved, Unibet and Expekt, plan to appeal the case once again, and perhaps pressure from the European Commission can force a the French courts to make a more advantageous ruling. Right now, the two companies fines are $500,000 for Unibet, and $300,000 for Expekt. An appeal to the higher courts though may adequately resolve the case.