France’s L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) is setting in motion its plans for the country’s gambling industry following its creation last summer. It replaced L’Autorité Nationale de Régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL) in an effort to unify gambling regulations and, now that it has a handle on the environment, is ready to build upon its “five key pillars” to shape the industry. ANJ has now released its objectives to update France’s gambling laws and standards, anticipating that it will need three years to have everything fully in place. However, if trends are to be followed, it might take longer than expected for those plans to be completely rolled out.

From now through 2023, ANJ will focus on strategic solutions to ensure better consumer protection and keep people away from the “harms” that are associated with gambling. The plan has already been approved by the regulator’s board of governors, as well as others shaping government policy, and will build upon five tenets that are being implemented to reinforce gambling operators’ obligation to provide a “significant return” to society. They will also include guidance to minimize the risk of gaming addiction and maximizing public safety.

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, serving as the regulator’s president, has been busy getting everything in place to redesign France’s gambling laws since the ANJ was formed last year. She is approaching her responsibilities methodically, beginning with a reform of the current regulatory structure while introducing new requirements and commitments for operators. The ANJ has already implemented new regulations, including new player protection guidelines tied to deposit limits and more.

Prior to the introduction of the ANJ, regulatory oversight of gambling in France was fragmented, with virtually all activity having its own set of rules. Now, however, the ANJ is creating a unified strategy that will be applicable to all operators in all disciplines, while providing a certain amount of flexibility for each segment. The regulator has introduced new technical requirements all operators must follow and plans on dedicating resources to implement new anti-money-laundering solutions that can be applied across borders.

The U.K. Gambling Commission (UKGC) is relentless in its pursuit of handicapping the gaming industry as much as possible. U.K. authorities don’t seem to have an issue with underage drinking or domestic abuse, both of which have increased over the past two years, but find someone spending €100 and suddenly there’s a problem. One of the many controls the UKGC wants to implement is an “affordability check,” which would require scrutiny of anyone who loses over £100 ($137) a month. This, combined with the commission’s crack down on gambling advertising, could lead to a number of sports throwing in the towel and giving up.

The founder and chairman of Matchroom Sports, Barry Hearn, asserts that all of the measures the UKGC is implementing to protect consumers are going to have a negative impact on sports activity. Matchroom promotes sports such as snooker, darts, boxing and more, and the commission’s move to completely eliminate gambling advertising in sports would be a “disaster” to all of them. Hearn, who is also the chairman of World Snooker, bases his assessment on history, having seen what happened when the U.K. decided to ban tobacco sponsorships from sports in 2005.

Some might argue that snooker, et al. was able to bounce back from that tobacco ban, even though it was crippled for a couple of years. However, what allowed them to stage a rebound was the approval of gambling sponsorship laws that were introduced in 2007. Losing this now, especially amid the COVID-19 crisis and Brexit, would be permanently detrimental to a number of sports, predicts Hearn.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to provide consumer protection from activity that might be harmful, as long as the measures don’t outweigh the costs. According to a number of studies, the U.K. gambling market is composed of only around 3% of individuals that could be classified as “problem gamblers.” This is drastically lower than the percentage associated with problem drinking; however, it is still possible for a 16-year old to belly up to the bar and ask for a pint. Many “problem gambling” studies have been led by gambling opponents who specifically worded their surveys in such a way as to entice responses that would benefit their cause, bringing into question the validity of all of those studies.