As part of the Monaco iGaming Exchanges, marketing consultant Francis Merlin has written a study about the effect of illegal sites on the French online gaming market.
Currently around two million internet users in France play on illegal sites, a similar number to Germany. It is the illegal overseas operators of the sites who reap the economic benefits from the French market, to the tune of €1.5bn.
An estimate of between 10,000 and 15,000 illegal sites will set up in France when the market opens up. The most reliable way to estimate the number of sites likely to wish to operate illegally in France is to base the figures on the Italian market.
According to official sources, Italy has identified 2,007 illegal operator attacks. In France, unlike Italy, casino games are not permitted, nor are certain other types of game, so an additional 35 per cent of illegal sites must be added to the figure of 2007. It can thus be estimated that the number of attacks by illegal sites in France could be in the order of 2,700 (compare this with the assumed number of operator licences to be granted in France - around 50).
Other interesting figures concerning the proportion of illegal and legal sites: for poker in Italy there are 20 legal sites and 300 illegal ones (blacklisted) out of a total of total 600 poker sites operating worldwide.
The figures for potentially illegal sites are going to increase significantly over the next three years, with the opening up of the online gaming market in around 30 countries around the world.
