Caesars France: The Irony of Owning "Paris" and Not This One

Caesars is not legal in France, and the timeline runs the opposite direction from most countries on this site — William Hill, the company Caesars would buy more than a decade later, had already quit the French online market before Caesars Entertainment ever owned it. Caesars itself has never applied for a French license in anything. The closest the brand gets to Paris is the resort of that name on the Las Vegas Strip.

Legal status in France

France's regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ, successor to ARJEL since 2020), licenses only three online verticals — sports betting, horse-race betting, and poker — and bans online casino games outright for every operator, licensed or not. Roughly 16 to 17 private operators hold a current sports-betting license (names like Winamax, Betclic, Unibet, Bwin, and Parions Sport recur in 2026 market coverage, with bet365 added that April ahead of the World Cup), alongside FDJ and PMU's separate monopoly rights. William Hill is not among them, and never has been since France's regime took effect: Reuters reported in 2010 that William Hill stopped taking bets from French customers once the country's new licensing law forced out every operator ARJEL had not approved — only 11 sites cleared that bar in the opening round. William Hill said at the time it was weighing whether to apply for a French license under the new rules; the public record shows no sign it ever did. Caesars Entertainment did not exist in its current form yet — it completed its roughly $4 billion acquisition of William Hill's global business eleven years later, in April 2021, kept only the US sportsbook, renamed that business Caesars Sportsbook that August, and sold William Hill's entire non-US operation to 888 Holdings (renamed evoke plc in 2023) in a deal that closed July 2022. France was already a decade outside William Hill's footprint by the time any of that happened, so it was never part of what Caesars bought or what it later sold off. No Caesars-branded sportsbook, casino, or poker room has ever held an ANJ or ARJEL license.

State gambling authority: Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), successor to ARJEL since 2020. Licenses only sports betting, horse-race betting, and poker; online casino stays banned for everyone. Caesars holds no license in any category, and William Hill — the business Caesars later bought and sold — exited the French market in 2010, well before Caesars existed in its current form.

Caesars is not legal in France, and the timeline here runs backward from most of the stories on this site. Usually it's Caesars (or William Hill, before the rename) that shows up somewhere and then leaves. In France, William Hill was already gone for eleven years before Caesars Entertainment owned the company at all. The closest thing to a Caesars presence in Paris is a themed resort on the Las Vegas Strip with an Eiffel Tower replica out front.

William Hill Left France in 2010 — Before Caesars Existed

France rewrote its online gambling law in 2010, right before that summer's World Cup, creating a licensing regime run by a new regulator, ARJEL, that approved only a short list of operators and shut everyone else out. Reuters reported that May that William Hill had stopped accepting bets from French customers as a direct result — just 11 sites had cleared ARJEL's approval at that point. William Hill said publicly it was weighing whether to apply for a license under the new rules. Nothing in the public record shows it ever did.

The gap that matters: Caesars Entertainment did not buy William Hill until April 2021 — eleven years after William Hill had already quit France. France was never part of the US sportsbook business Caesars kept, and it was never part of the international business Caesars sold to 888 Holdings in 2022, because William Hill had stopped operating there over a decade earlier.

Is Caesars Legal in France Today?

No. France's regulator, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ, which took over from ARJEL in 2020), licenses exactly three online verticals — sports betting, horse-race betting, and poker — and bans online casino games outright for every operator, licensed or not. Roughly 16 to 17 private operators hold a current sports-betting license heading into the 2026 World Cup, a list that includes Winamax, Betclic, Unibet, Bwin, and Parions Sport, with bet365 added in April 2026. Caesars is not on it, and neither is William Hill.

Is Caesars Legit?

The company behind the name is real enough — Nasdaq-listed Caesars Entertainment (CZR), a licensed sportsbook running in roughly two dozen US states, and one of the largest casino operators on the planet. None of that reaches France. Legitimacy as a US gaming company doesn't create a license in a market the brand has never applied to, and the business Caesars eventually bought had already left that market before Caesars owned it.

Is It Safe to Use a Site Claiming to Be Caesars From France?

Treat it as a red flag. The ANJ is an active enforcer — 232 blocking and dereferencing orders covering 1,337 URLs in 2024 alone — and anything taking French bets under the Caesars name sits entirely outside that system. No licensed recourse exists if a withdrawal gets stuck or an account gets frozen.

Who It Fits

Nobody searching for a French sportsbook or casino under the Caesars name — that product has never existed, and the William Hill business Caesars later acquired had already left France a decade before the acquisition closed. French readers who want a regulated book should look at the ANJ's own licensees instead. US and Canadian readers after the real Caesars Sportsbook should check this site's state and Canada pages. 18+, and joueurs-info-service.fr for help, regardless of operator.

Caesars Sportsbook France — Frequently Asked Questions

Is Caesars legal in France?

No. Caesars has no ANJ license for sports betting, horse-race betting, or poker — the only three verticals France licenses online — and online casino is banned there for every operator regardless of license. There is no Caesars.fr and no legal way to open a Caesars account from France.

Did William Hill operate in France before Caesars bought it?

Briefly, then no. Reuters reported in May 2010 that William Hill stopped accepting bets from French customers once France's new gambling law took effect and ARJEL began approving only a small list of licensed sites — 11 at the time. William Hill said it was considering a French license application under the new regime; there is no record it followed through. That exit happened in 2010, eleven years before Caesars Entertainment acquired the company.

Is Caesars legit?

As a company, yes — Caesars Entertainment trades on Nasdaq as CZR and runs a real, regulated sportsbook across roughly two dozen US states and jurisdictions. None of that legitimacy extends to France, where the brand has never held a license and the William Hill business it later bought had already left the market a decade before the Caesars name existed.

Who can legally bet online in France?

Only ANJ-licensed operators — roughly 16 to 17 of them heading into the 2026 World Cup, including Winamax, Betclic, Unibet, Bwin, Parions Sport, and bet365 as of its April 2026 license — plus FDJ and PMU under their separate monopoly rights. Caesars and William Hill are not on that list.

Is it safe to use a site calling itself Caesars from France?

No — treat it as unlicensed. The ANJ blocked 1,337 URLs across 232 enforcement orders in 2024 alone for taking French bets without approval, and any site using the Caesars name would fall outside that oversight entirely, with no ANJ-backed recourse if a payout goes wrong.

Does Caesars have a casino in Paris?

Only on the Las Vegas Strip. Paris Las Vegas, the Eiffel Tower-replica resort Caesars Entertainment owns and operates, has never had anything to do with the actual city — and even if Caesars wanted to open a real casino in France, online casino games are banned there for every operator, and France's land-based casino licensing runs through a separate national process Caesars has never entered.

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