Operator News
France – Paris gaming club ‘experiment’ extended by two years
By Phil - 18 December 2019
Government officials in France have moved to extend the trial period for the new style of gaming clubs in Paris for another two years, due to their late opening.
The Senate approved the extension in the 2020 finance bill, postponing the end of the testing of gaming clubs in Paris to December 31, 2022. The National Assembly and the High Assembly also voted for the extension with the Finance, General Economy and Budgetary Control Commission of the National Assembly to have the final say. Following the closure of the previous circle clubs, the first Parisian gaming club opened on January 1, 2018, this competition experiment really started at the end of the year.
A government spokesperson said: “The opening of these gaming clubs took place later than expected due to delays in their construction or the wait for administrative authorisations. Logically, the balance sheets behind the experiment cannot be offered in a constructive way as soon as April 2020.
“Of the eight game clubs that have so far obtained ministerial authorisation, five clubs are currently open, three of which have only been available for a few weeks,” the spokesperson continued. “Three more gaming clubs are expected to open by the end of 2019. The late opening of these gaming clubs during the trial period does not allow a representative assessment of their performance to be drawn up as most of them will not have been operating for a year by the time their assessment is be presented to the Parliament by the Government, at the end of April 2020. It would be advisable to have a sufficient period of effective operation of the game clubs to assess their economic viability, even though they are all making heavy investments both to meet planning requirements and to set up the gaming clubs.”
The spokesperson said the two year extension was needed so that any ‘modifications to the legislation and regulatory frameworks originating from the profession’ could be put forward to ascertain the ‘fate of the gaming clubs: to either stop, modify or perpetuate the operation of clubs, possibly by widening their geographical perimeter of installation.’
“This is why this amendment proposes to extend the duration of the experimentation of the gaming clubs by increasing it from three to five years,” the spokesperson said.
The two latest openings saw Belgian group Ardent opened The Circus Club Paris, on September 9 whilst Lucien Barrière unveiled Club Barrière Paris on September 13.
These have joined The Paris Elysees Club, opened by Tranchant in April 2018, the Imperial Club owned by Raineau, which opened in 24, 2019, and Club Montmartre, which was officially launched by Frédérique Ruggieri in August this year.
