What might the loss in turnover associated with illegal sites cost France?
• Assessment of loss of turnover due to illegal sites for 2011 (full year): 1.8 billion euro would have been the turnover for France in 2011 (based on the Italian market, one year after opening up). But the ban on casino games, bingo and some types of betting will account for a loss of turnover of the order of 25% (players will continue to use illegal sites). The loss of turnover for 2011 could thus be in the order of 450 million euro • Assessment of the loss of tax revenue for 2011: Loss of tax revenue associated with illegal sites could be in the order of 34 million euro for 2011 • Not all games are impacted in the same way It should be stressed that not all games are impacted in the same way, with operators of sports and racing betting the least affected, unlike poker operators. This is for several reasons, including that French players can only play amongst themselves, some variations of poker are excluded, and there is a high rate of taxation. * Francis Merlin is a marketing consu
