Reform of the List of Authorized Betting Media, Known as the “Sport List”

PARIS, France (January 15, 2024) — In France, since 2010, only bets on certain sporting competitions and on certain types of results or phases of play can be offered as legal sports betting. On December 21, 2023, the ANJ college decided to review this list sport, with the aim of facilitating its readability, strengthening its coherence and updating it. This overhaul was guided by the search for a balance between the expectations of punters and operators and the prevention of the risk of sporting manipulation.

What is the “sport list”?

The list of authorized betting media, or “Sport List”, governs the sports betting offer authorized by the ANJ and available in France. ​

The “sport list” aims to:​

• Prevent sports manipulation;​

• Prohibit bets that do not rely on the know-how and sporting knowledge of the bettors (color of a player’s socks, even or odd number of goals), to the extent that the subject of the bet must present a sporting issue  ;

• Limit betting to certain competitions.

This list has two parts , each of which constitutes the subject of the overhaul:

• sports competitions or events authorized as betting media;

• the types of results and phases of play relating to these competitions or events

Why an update?

The “sport list” has been regularly modified since 2010. As a result, it has lost its readability and consistency. It was therefore the subject of a complete rewrite based on extensive consultation work with all stakeholders: the Sports Directorate of the Ministry of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the delegated federations and the leagues. professionals concerned as well as all sports betting operators.

Developments relating to the list of competitions and sporting events authorized betting supports

Certain sporting events have been removed from the list, either because they no longer exist, or because they no longer meet the legal criteria for inclusion on the list because they appear to be devoid of significance or notoriety (championship of first level Armenian football), or proving likely to fuel manipulation (first level Tunisian football championship). In total, 179 competitions were removed from the list which now includes 772 competitions .

In particular, only the final tournament of Division 1 ( March Madness) of the first level American university basketball championship organized by the National Collegiate Athelic Association  (NCCA) was authorized. This restriction responds to a need to reconcile the attractiveness of the French sports betting offer with the necessary prevention of the risks of manipulation observed in this championship, risks which have increased recently.

However, certain restrictions which no longer seemed justified have been lifted. This is the case of the restriction on the notion of a match without stakes which is removed in football, basketball, handball, golf and tennis. In addition, all friendly matches of the French men’s football and rugby teams can now be bet on , regardless of the ranking of the teams they face.

Developments relating to the list of types of results and phases of games which can be used as betting supports

This part of the list has been significantly modified to facilitate its implementation and compliance by operators. The numerous types of results that existed until now, the understanding and articulation of which sometimes proved difficult, have been brought together within more general types of results. This new, more concise wording does not, however, lead to a reduction in the number of bets previously authorized but places them in broader categories.

Two other developments should also be noted. In basketball, bets can now be placed on the number of points scored by a player, even if it is less than 20,  the restriction expressed by the type of result “Player(s) who score(s) 20 points or more” fading away. In tennis, the ban on handicap betting is removed.

The original guiding principles of the list are not affected by the redesign. Bets must always relate to an event presenting a sporting issue for the competitors, bets on negative actions remain prohibited, bets must continue to be executed according to the first announcement of the results announced by the organizer.

The new sports list will come into force on March 1, 2024 . An evaluation report will be carried out at the end of the year, in consultation with all stakeholders.

Access the sports list

SOURCE: Autorité Nationale des Jeux.