“Rugby Has Its Codes, Betting Too”: the ANJ Launches an Awareness Campaign

September 12, 2023 | Government

PARIS, France (September 11, 2023) — As the Rugby World Cup approaches, the ANJ asked Toluna – Harris Interactive to question the French about their betting intentions.

According to this study, 13% of French people say they intend to bet money during the competition.

To remind young people of good practices, the ANJ is launching an awareness campaign broadcast on Snapchat and in outdoor posters.

Sports betting and rugby 

With €176 million in stakes committed in 2022, rugby occupies 4th place after basketball, tennis and football which accounts for 56% of stakes, or €4.6 billion.

Stakes made during the World Cup could be in a range from €85 million to €150 million. The course of the French team will nevertheless be decisive in the amount of stakes.

The French and betting during the Rugby World Cup [i]

  • Nearly half of French people say they intend to follow the Rugby World Cup (47%) , which is a higher level than that recorded ahead of the Football World Cup in Qatar;

  • If just under half of people who plan to follow the World Cup plan to make a friendly bet with their loved ones  (45%), a quarter of them intend to bet money  on the matches (25%). . This proportion reaches 44% among 25-34 year olds. Compared to the entire population, 13% of French people say they intend to bet . Unsurprisingly, almost all potential bettors plan to bet on French team matches (91%)  and on high-stakes matches.

  • The risks of addiction and dependence associated with sports betting are identified by more than 8 in 10 French people (84%),  up compared to the measurement carried out before the Football World Cup last year (+11 points) . 

“Rugby has its codes, so does betting”: the ANJ awareness campaign

Because it takes place in France and the national team is the favorite, this World Cup will undoubtedly attract novice bettors and could galvanize regular bettors.

If most bettors have a recreational and controlled practice, the objective of this awareness campaign is to recall good practices for maintaining a recreational practice of sports betting  :   determine your budget and respect it, set time and limit limits. bets, do not overestimate your expertise because chance is always present in sport.

The campaign imagined by the Rosbeef agency! which has already collaborated with the ANJ on the occasion of the 2022 Football World Cup, challenges the punter by playing with the very colorful vocabulary of rugby. The message is simple:  you don’t get started if you don’t master the codes.

The campaign will be distributed in social ads on Snapchat as well as digital outdoor displays (DOOH), using spaces made available by certain members of the Outdoor Advertising Union (UPE). These initiatives follow the commitments made in the charter for responsible communication in the gambling sector signed in November 2022.

The creations

To discover the creations , click on the images below.

Rugby campaign

[i] Toluna – Harris Interactive survey carried out online from August 22 to 24, 2023 for the ANJ. Sample of 1,002 people representative of French people aged 18 and over.