French regulator imposes record €800K fine on SPS Betting for gambling regulation breach
France’s gambling regulator, L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has on SPS Betting, the company behind Kindred Group’s Unibet brand in France. The €800,000 ($843,360) penalty comes in response to a serious failure in Unibet’s self-exclusion system, which inadvertently allowed self-excluded players to place bets over nearly two years.
The details of the violation
The ANJ’s decision to fine Unibet is due to a lengthy system breakdown that undermined self-exclusion—a cornerstone protection meant to shield problem gamblers. The problem mainly affected iOS players, lasting from March 2021 to December 2022. After temporary solutions, identical issues recurred for another three months before the issue was resolved.
The full extent of the violation remains unclear. While ANJ estimates that around 6,754 accounts were impacted, Unibet acknowledges a lower figure of over 4,500 affected users.
Why the fine was so severe
Several factors contributed to the record fine imposed on Unibet. The self-exclusion problem continued for almost two years before it was resolved, and the initial remediation efforts did not successfully correct the problem, resulting in a prolonged period of breach. Moreover, Unibet is a repeat offender, having previously been fined on other occasions in France, including a fine for exceeding the nation’s 85 percent RTP cap.
The ANJ pointed out the seriousness of the breach, citing that Unibet’s market dominance heightens the gravity of the situation. Unibet’s role as a prominent figure in France’s online gambling sector makes its inability to enforce self-exclusion mechanisms compromise trust in the licensed gambling market.
The ANJ sanction committee stated, “The size of the market share held by SPS Betting in the field of online sports betting and, to a lesser extent, in the field of online circle games, makes the company one of the major players in the online gaming and betting sector and also gives the breach it committed significant gravity.”
Unibet’s history of regulatory issues
This is not the first time Unibet has faced scrutiny. In addition to previous fines in France, Unibet was recently under investigation in the Netherlands for blocking lawsuits from former players seeking compensation for past gambling losses before the market was regulated.
France has been cracking down on gambling rules, with a recent increase in taxes on some betting products. Major players such as La Française des Jeux (FDJ) are positive about adjusting to the changing times.
Beyond the financial penalty, Unibet must display a message regarding the fine on its “Unibet.fr” website homepage from 17 to 31 March 2025—a move designed to enhance transparency. The company has two months to appeal the ruling, though it has not yet indicated whether it will do so.
