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Operators rush for poker licences as France opens up online gaming
The law passed mid-October that will open up French online betting to the private sector is expected to grow the market by nearly 500 percent. The new legislation, which should take effect in the summer of 2010, for the first time will allow companies other than two state-owned operators to run online poker as well as sports and racing betting. And more than three quarters of the operators surveyed in a study by consultants MECN and law firm Ulys are hoping to obtain a French poker licence.
"The French market will give the global online gambling market a new push and develop into one of the key markets worldwide with online poker paving the way," said MECN director Martin Oelbermann.
However, many fewer appear likely to challenge the current monopoly of PMU by applying for licences to offer online betting on horse races.The researchers speculate that sports betting and poker, being less wellestablished in France, offer greater potential for growth.
The online market, currently worth about 300m Euro annually in terms of gross revenue, is seen growing by nearly 500% to 1.7bn Euro as consumer betting increases from around 1bn Euro to 18bn Euro. Gross revenue is defined as total bets less prizes.
By both measures - total bets, and gross revenue - that would give online roughly a 20 percent share of the total licensed gambling market in France, based on 2008 figures.
