France’s Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) granted Bet365 an online sports betting licence on 16 April, clearing the British operator to enter one of Europe’s most tightly regulated markets ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The application was submitted in January through subsidiary Hillside (New Media Malta) Plc. The ANJ announced the decision on 23 April, following a scheduled board meeting the week prior. The authorised domain is bet365.fr. The licence carries a five-year term and is renewable.
World Cup timing
Bet365 had identified the World Cup as its target launch window, and the ANJ approval means it can now begin marketing to French players before the tournament. Affiliates are already preparing campaigns ahead of the operator’s go-live, with the arrival expected to push up the cost of media inventory in the French market.
The operator’s global UEFA Champions League sponsorship, which runs until 2027, will allow it to display its brand in French stadiums during UCL fixtures, replacing the Follow Scores branding previously carried there.
Regulatory constraints
France’s licensing framework presents distinct structural challenges for Bet365. The country operates a strictly limited online gambling regime — sports betting, horse racing and poker are permitted; online casino remains prohibited. Bet365’s licence covers sports betting only, with no official confirmation of a broader product scope at launch.
The mandatory 85% return-to-player ratio removes the low-margin, best-price model the operator typically deploys in other markets. Asian handicap markets, prohibited under ANJ rules, are also unavailable — a meaningful constraint given Bet365’s product differentiation in other jurisdictions.
The incumbent operators — Betclic, Winamax and Unibet — have dominated French online sports betting since market inception. Nicolas Béraud, founder and president of Betclic, acknowledged the new entrant’s brand weight while playing down direct product overlap.
“Bet365 was strong enough to impact all operators as it has a ‘powerful brand’, but its ‘historic English model, with fairly technical bets on which sophisticated players wager large sums of money’ was different to Betclic’s, which is better suited to the French market.” — Nicolas Béraud, Betclic
The comment reflects a broader question facing the operator: how much of its product proposition survives in a market where the regulatory perimeter limits both the bet types available and the margin structures it can offer.
Financial context
Bet365’s most recent annual results cover the year to end-March 2025. Revenue rose approximately 9% to around £4bn over that period, driven by growth across sports betting and online casino. Profits fell sharply as operating costs increased, with regulated market entry costs a significant factor.
France follows a run of expansion activity. On 17 April, the operator launched sportsbook and casino operations in Michigan — its 17th US sports betting state and third US iGaming jurisdiction. Earlier in April it ended credit card deposits across all US markets, aligning with DraftKings, FanDuel and BetMGM. In March it departed the American Gaming Association, citing the trade body’s focus on retail casino.
The European market remains competitive, with operators navigating a wave of tax increases and tightening regulatory conditions across multiple jurisdictions. France’s online sports betting market is heading for a record year with the World Cup as a catalyst, but the regulatory and tax environment across Europe continues to compress operator margins.
Whether Bet365’s brand recognition translates to meaningful market share in France will depend on its ability to differentiate within a product scope the ANJ defines, not the operator.
Source: Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ)
