Soon to include odds on winning the Ligue 1 title.
Way back in February the French Senate had passed a bill to legalize online gambling, but it still needed approval from the National Assembly. Well, this past Tuesday L’Assemblee Nationale did its part and passed the bill as well, opening up the country to companies operating online gaming sites.
Current laws in France prohibit all online gambling and prevent international companies from attempting to penetrate the market in any form, with a virtual monopoly given to two state-run companies (PMU and La Française des Jeux).
Austrian internet gaming company bwin had previously run afoul of these laws, resulting in the arrest of several of their executives in 2006. The company is now poised to relaunch its French services once the bill is officially signed into law.
The goal is clearly to have the law enacted before the start of World Cup 2010 in South Africa so that international companies can accept bets from French citizens, and thus have any winnings taxed accordingly by the French government. Although it will be too late for the current Ligue 1 season, this will still be welcome news to clubs such as Lyon and Marseille (both sponsored by BetClic), and Monaco (who had a previous relationship with bwin), as well as any other European teams that will be playing Champions League or Europea League matches in France next season.
However, its not as clear how the Ligue de Football Professionnel itself feels about this development, as they have a 2-year sponsorship deal starting next season with La Française des Jeux. Considering they are locked into a funding structure for that period, the LFP may feel that the law arrives too late to allow them to initiate a bidding war between potential sponsors, thus robbing them of increased financing. In addition, La Francaise des Jeux has hinted that it will be approaching individual clubs with sponsorship offers, so the new law is sure to result in more lucrative deals for clubs over the next few years.
I don’t know how to feel about this
well, at the very least it will get Claude Puel to stop complaining
This is why I come to UF everyday: one post makes light of the inability of footie players to draw while another provides analysis of online betting in France. Good stuff.
I’ll now remove my lips for UFs prodigious ass.
EF just said UF has a big ass. Oh no he didn’t.