Do games of chance owe nothing to chance? This Tuesday, the Competition Authority announced that it had imposed a fine of 750,000 euros on the National Confederation of Tobacconists. She criticizes them for “cartel practices in the games of chance distribution sector”, which occurred in 2016.
“These practices consisted of organizing boycott operations in order to obstruct the opening of alternative distribution points for games of chance, planned as part of a partnership between Française des Jeux (FDJ) and the company Réseau Fleuri », i.e. florists under the Florajet brand, the Competition Authority said in a press release.
Flowers and games
The competition watchdog indicates that from 2013, the FDJ had “started to develop contractual relations with the floral teletransmission company Réseau Fleuri”, i.e. a total of 7,500 artisan florists, thus authorizing the online sale of a bouquet called “Bouquet Chance”, accompanied by scratch games.
A broader partnership was then concluded at the end of 2015 between the two entities, “allowing florists in the Florajet network to distribute certain scratch games and drawing games” such as Loto grids, EuroMillions and Keno games, it is detailed. This approval for La Française of games from points of sale outside the network of tobacconists had “aroused strong dissatisfaction” on the part of the latter, indicates the Competition Authority.
Organization of boycotts
“Considering that the “Florajet affair” required in return “very harsh action against the FDJ” and that it was necessary to “crash their new game which comes out in September””, the Confederation of French tobacconists (CNBF) “then engaged and organized operations to boycott the validation of the FDJ games, operations relayed at the local level by regional federations and tobacconist union chambers,” specifies the press release.
It is indicated that “boycotts were notably organized during the launch of the new formula of the EuroMillions game on September 27, 2016”, as well as during “the validation of online games (Loto, Sports Loto and EuroMillions) in the Eastern Federation on September 22, 2016. » “By focusing on ousting potential competitors of tobacconists, the CNBF went beyond the limits of its legitimate union activity by intervening in the market”, considers the Competition Authority, which refers to “behavior of particular gravity.