M ONT H I N M I NUT ES
2013 IN
NUMB3RS
56%
Betfair’s year-onyear profit rise for
the six-month
period ending 31
October 2013
See news on p14
RIGHT TO
REPLY
LACK OF TRANSPARENCY
IS PREVENTING GERMAN
PROGRESS
MATTHIAS SPITZ
ATTORNEY, MELCHERS LAW FIRM
179m
Bet365’s full-year
profit for the 12
months ended 31
March 2013
Read our cover
feature on p26
45%
Percentage of users
not price sensitive
according to data
from price
comparison site
Oddschecker
See our feature on
p37
£424m
The amount William
Hill paid in March for
Playtech’s 29% stake
in its online joint
venture
Read our year in
review on p42
8
The licensing process for sports
betting in Germany is stagnating
as a result of procedural errors by
the Hessian Ministry of the Interior.
The Ministry expects to face more
than 80 lawsuits against the German
online gaming tendering process
and licence conditions. According
to an announcement recently
circulated in the media, none of the
applicants were considered to have
proven the minimum requirements
in ‘auditable form’.
However, the decision of the
Higher Administrative Court
of Hesse of June 2013 clearly
states that 14 out of the 41
applicants completely satisfied the
requirements and were invited to a
negotiation phase.
All the applications have become
unsatisfactory because the Ministry
has applied different criteria now.
This again points to the lack of
transparency surrounding the whole
process. Now, the regulator claims
that licence applications will need to
be amended. Administrative courts
already indicated in litigation that
they consider the process to be
intransparent.
A main reason is that licensing
criteria wasn’t released widely
prior to the process, only in
an information memorandum
disclosed in the second stage. The
fact that a total of 599 questions
about the process were raised
by applicants provides further
evidence for intransparency.
It’s unlikely the process will be
completed within the next year or
any time soon, unless the German
states fundamentally change the
process. This includes lifting the
restrictions to the number of licences
and commercial obstacles, such as
the €1,000 stakes limit per month
and restrictions to in-play betting.
WINNING WAYS
888 CEO Brian Mattingley
capped off a stellar year by
collecting three gongs at the
2013 eGaming Review Operator
Awards
FAMILY
TREE
BALLY
TECHNOLOGIES
In December Bally completed
the acquisition of SHFL
Entertainment, leading to the
departure of the latter’s CEO,
CFO and CSO from the business
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