Banijay Gaming Acquires JOA's 33 Casinos in France

Banijay Gaming has agreed to acquire Groupe JOA, France's second-largest casino operator, adding 33 land-based venues to a portfolio that already includes online brands Betclic and Tipico. The deal, announced in early July 2026 and expected to complete in the second half of the year, gives Banijay a nationwide physical footprint in a market where online casino is still banned, positioning the group to profit fastest if France ever legalises iGaming.

The acquisition is the clearest sign yet of how Europe's biggest privately held gambling operators are hedging their bets. Rather than wait for regulators to open the online casino market, Banijay is buying the bricks and mortar that a future licensing regime would most likely favour. It is a strategy the company itself calls omnichannel, and one its executives compare directly to moves already made in Germany and Austria.

What exactly did Banijay Gaming buy?

Banijay Gaming agreed to acquire Groupe JOA, an operator that runs 33 casinos across France and is the country's second-largest casino group by number of venues. In its official announcement, Banijay said JOA generated roughly 430 million euros in gross gaming revenue in 2025 and welcomed more than 4.6 million visitors over the year.

The financial terms were not disclosed. Banijay said completion is expected in the second half of 2026, subject to employee consultation, merger control clearance and approval from France's gaming regulators. JOA chairman Laurent Lassiaz will remain in his role after the transaction closes, which Banijay framed as a signal of continuity for the operator's staff and municipal partners.

Why is a media and betting group buying French casinos?

Banijay is building an omnichannel gambling business, and JOA supplies the physical half of that equation. The group's Banijay Gaming arm already owns Betclic, a leading online sportsbook and gaming operator in southern Europe, and in April 2026 completed its acquisition of German market leader Tipico. JOA adds a retail casino estate to sit alongside those digital brands.

The logic is that a licensed operator with both online technology and a regulated land-based presence is best placed to win if and when France reforms its rules. In many European markets, online casino licences have been tied to existing land-based permits. Owning casinos now is, in effect, an option on that future.

The three pillars of Banijay Gaming

Brand	Type	Core market	Added to Banijay
Betclic	Online sportsbook and gaming	France, Portugal, Italy, Poland	Existing core
Tipico	Online and retail sports betting	Germany	April 2026
JOA	Land-based casinos	France (33 venues)	Announced July 2026

How big is the combined Banijay Gaming business?

Banijay Gaming has said the enlarged division will represent around 7.5 billion euros in annual revenue and about 1.6 billion euros in adjusted EBITDA, with more than 1 billion euros in annual cash flow. That scale places it among the largest gambling groups in continental Europe, even though it remains privately controlled rather than listed.

The gaming arm sits inside the wider Banijay Group, best known for television production. On 15 July 2026, Banijay completed its merger of Banijay Entertainment with All3Media in a deal reported at around 4.4 billion euros, creating what the companies described as the world's largest independent production company. The gambling business is a distinct pillar of that empire, funded in large part by the cash it throws off.

Why does the online casino ban matter here?

France is one of the few large European markets that still prohibits online casino games such as slots and roulette, even though online sports betting and poker are legal and regulated. That makes the country an outlier: neighbouring markets from Spain to Germany have licensed online casino products for years.

French authorities came close to changing that. A proposal to legalise online casino was floated as part of the 2025 budget process, pitched partly as a way to raise tax revenue and to claw back money lost to unlicensed sites. After heavy opposition from land-based casino operators and their municipal backers, who warned of job losses and cannibalised footfall, the government pulled the measure from the budget. The prospect has remained a live topic of speculation ever since.

How large is the illegal online casino market in France?

Industry estimates cited by iGaming Business put the unregulated online casino market in France at roughly 1.5 billion euros a year. That gap between demand and legal supply is the central argument reformers use: French players are already gambling online, just outside any regulated framework, which means no consumer protection and no tax take.

For an operator like Banijay, that unmet demand is exactly the upside. If France eventually channels that activity into a licensed market, a group that already holds land-based casino licences and runs a proven online platform in Betclic would be positioned to capture it quickly.

What are Banijay's executives saying?

Banijay Group chief executive Francois Riahi framed the deal as a move to become a leader in land-based gaming in France, drawing a direct line to the group's existing positions in Germany and Austria. Banijay Gaming chairman Nicolas Beraud emphasised the seamless blend of digital and physical play that the enlarged group can now offer customers.

"I am the defender of the evolution from brick-and-mortar to click-and-mortar," JOA chairman Laurent Lassiaz told iGaming Business, describing how he expects future French licensing to reward operators that combine physical venues with digital reach.

That "click-and-mortar" framing captures the whole thesis of the transaction. Neither side is betting purely on the casino floor or purely on the app; they are betting on the combination, and on a regulator eventually rewarding it.

What does the French casino market look like today?

France has around 200 casinos, a legacy of licensing rules that historically kept venues out of major cities and concentrated them in spa and coastal resort towns. It is often described as a locals' market, with individual venues closely tied to the municipalities that host them and depend on their tax contributions. Figures cited by iGaming Business put total French casino gross gaming revenue at roughly 2.8 billion euros in 2025, with slot machines generating the large majority of that.

Against that backdrop, JOA's 33 venues and 4.6 million annual visits represent a meaningful slice of national footfall. The municipal and political entanglement of French casinos is also precisely why online casino reform has been so hard to pass, and why owning land-based licences is seen as a defensive as well as an offensive move.

Who will regulate the deal, and what about ANJ?

France's gambling regulator, the Autorite Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), oversees the licensed market and would be central to any future online casino framework. In mid-2026 the French government put forward Pascal Chevremont, a senior finance ministry official who has overseen state lottery and betting group FDJ United, as the proposed new head of the authority, an appointment still subject to parliamentary approval.

Any leadership change at ANJ is watched closely by operators because the regulator's posture shapes how quickly and on what terms new products reach the market. Banijay's acquisition does not depend on reform happening, but it is structured so that the group benefits disproportionately if it does.

How does this compare with Banijay's German and Austrian playbook?

Riahi explicitly described the JOA deal as repeating the group's German and Austrian playbook, where Banijay Gaming built scale through Tipico and other assets. The pattern is consistent: acquire an established operator with real market share, integrate it with the group's technology and marketing muscle, and use the combined cash flows to fund the next move.

Applying that template to France, a market Banijay knows intimately through Betclic, is a lower-risk version of the same idea. The group is not entering a new geography; it is deepening its grip on one where it already competes, and adding a product category, land-based casino, that it did not previously hold at home.

What are the risks to the strategy?

The biggest risk is that France simply never legalises online casino, leaving Banijay with a land-based estate that must justify itself on retail economics alone. Casino footfall in mature European markets has been broadly flat, and running physical venues carries higher fixed costs than an app. If reform stalls indefinitely, the omnichannel premium the deal is priced around may not materialise.

There is also integration risk. Folding a 33-site casino operator into a group in the middle of digesting Tipico, and doing so while the parent completes a multibillion-euro media merger, is a lot of simultaneous change. Regulatory clearance and employee consultation in France can also be slow and politically sensitive, particularly for an asset as locally rooted as a casino network.

What happens next?

The immediate milestone is completion, which Banijay expects in the second half of 2026 once employee consultation, merger control and gaming-regulator approvals are cleared. Beyond that, the story to watch is French policy: whether a new-look ANJ and a budget-hungry government revisit online casino legalisation, and on what terms. For now, Banijay has placed its chips on the table and is waiting to see whether the rules change in its favour.

Updated July 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Who is Banijay Gaming acquiring in France?

Banijay Gaming is acquiring Groupe JOA, France's second-largest casino operator, which runs 33 casinos and reported around 430 million euros in gross gaming revenue in 2025.

How much is the Banijay JOA deal worth?

Banijay did not disclose the price. It said the transaction is expected to complete in the second half of 2026, subject to employee consultation, merger control and French gaming regulatory approvals.

Does Banijay Gaming already own online betting brands?

Yes. Banijay Gaming owns Betclic, a leading online sportsbook and gaming operator in southern Europe, and acquired German market leader Tipico in April 2026. JOA adds land-based casinos to that mix.

Is online casino legal in France?

No. France permits online sports betting and poker but still bans online casino games such as slots and roulette. A proposal to legalise online casino was pulled from the 2025 budget after opposition from land-based operators.

Why does the JOA deal matter if online casino is banned?

The acquisition is an omnichannel bet. By owning land-based casino licences alongside the Betclic platform, Banijay would be positioned to move quickly if France ever legalises online casino and ties licences to physical venues.