The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), France’s gambling regulator, has warned operators not to overdo it with marketing during the FIFA World Cup 2026.
In light of the approaching tournament, which takes place this summer and will span across the Americas, the ANJ has noted that the marketing spend of operators has grown by 25% on average as they prepare for the biggest football event on the calendar.
The regulator also highlighted that it is concerned football fans in France could be subjected to even bigger exposure to gambling ads given that FIFA will introduce “hydration breaks”, giving an additional two minutes for advertising during each game.
“In this context, in order to prevent any risk of advertising overexposure and the development of excessive gaming practices, the ANJ asked all operators not to exceed the announced budgets.”
ANJ’s concerns stem from a 2024 report, which found that 15.3% of sports bettors are currently considered to be problem gamblers. Furthermore, sports betting is widely enjoyed by a younger audience, with 18% of bettors being between 18-24.
Still, French advertising industry union ADMTV has approached the ANJ, confirming that a major local broadcaster has decided not to sell advertising space to gambling companies in the above-mentioned two-minute window.
The same broadcaster has also reassured ADMTV that it will abide by good advertising practices outlined by the ANJ, broadcasting regulator ARCOM, and independent advertising monitoring body ARPP, outlined in 2022.
Now, the ANJ is calling all stakeholders – both broadcasters and gambling operators – to exercise moderation when it comes to gambling advertisements during the World Cup. In addition, it has also asked policymakers to consider a proposal to introduce a whistle-to-whistle marketing ban, which would apply to future major sporting events as well.
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, the ANJ also reminded that taking down promotional material by illegal gambling providers takes utmost priority.
Last year, operators did show constraint by reporting advertising budgets less than anticipated by the ANJ 8% baseline, but this could have also been driven by the 15% tax on promotional spend introduced in July.
This time around, however, everything is already pointing towards a drastic reversal in this trend, which is to be expected given the astronomical global marketing appeal of an event such as the FIFA World Cup.