72% of people who bet online are under 35 years old and almost 50% are between 18 and 25 years old.
The World Cup, which opened in Qatar on Sunday, will attract many online bets. According to forecasts by the National Gaming Authority (ANJ), French players are expected to wager between 500 and 600 million euros in this competition.
Guest on the set of BFM businesswarned the President of the ANJ, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, about the risks associated with these online gambling games.
72% of players are under 35 years old
Particularly important risks for young audiences. According to figures from Public Health France, 72% of people who play sports betting online are under 35 years old. 40% of them are between 18 and 25 years old.
But “the current economic climate means that many young people are in a very vulnerable situation,” stresses Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin. The idea of being able to earn money with sports betting then becomes particularly attractive and leads to debt and addiction spirals.
Against this background, the head of the regulatory office fears above all the same “media and advertising flood” that was “aimed primarily at young people and especially young people from working-class areas” during Euro 2020.
Responsible advertising
“We need to control this advertising pressure and prevent bettors and first-time bettors – because there will be many new bettors – from falling into excessive gambling,” she urged. Before we summarize: “We want the advertising that accompanies these bets to be responsible”.
In doing so, the ANJ relies on the responsibility of the industry’s advertisers. “We signed a series of charters last week with the entire online gaming advertising ecosystem to moderate gambling operators’ advertising efforts,” the regulator’s chief said.
In particular, online gambling providers are encouraged to only include players under the age of 25, with the exception of athletes, in their advertising. The regulator is also asking them to limit the number of spots they broadcast each day and not to work with underage influencers or with influencers whose share of underage viewers is too large.
