Online Sportsbooks Withdraw from France Market. Changing legislation in France has forced online sportsbooks to reconsider their position in taking bets and servicing clients from France. Two major Sportsbooks have already taken steps to remove themselves from the French market. BetUS (Rating B+) and Pinnacle (Rating A) this week have blocked players with IP’s from France and you can expect other major sportsbooks to follow

Pinnacle already doesn’t allow players from the United States because of the gray area of sports betting or any type of wagering in that country. Pinnacle is known as a very cautious and professional operation. They don’t offer many bonuses or other deposit gimmicks and steer clear of any conflicting laws.

France is not the biggest online sports betting audience but by the same token it is not the smallest either. They love their futbol (soccer) and like to bet on the games as well as Tennis and other European favs.

The new laws in France look to legalize online gambling only after the company looking to take the bets applies for and receives a gambling license.

As written in an article on franceonlineconference.com back in September: ” To date, the government has received close to 50 applications for licenses under the new regime. As this is significantly less than the 200 initially predicted back in 2008, it is clear a large number of interested parties, especially European operators, are still unsure or unconvinced of the market benefits.”