igamingbusiness . com
FEATURE
GERMAN GAMBLING : CAN THE MARKET BE SAVED ?
In January 2023 , after years of delays , Germany ’ s federal gambling regulator took charge of a market dominated by illegal operators . Imogen Goodman examines how the authority can shift the balance towards legal gambling
A s anyone who has followed the history of the German gambling market will know , legalisation of online casino and sports betting was a long time coming .
When the government first moved to regulate the gambling market back in 2008 , it was less a road towards liberalisation and more an attempt at prohibition . This took the form of an outright ban on online verticals , which remained in place until recently .
Germany ’ s fledgling gaming regulation – the 2021 Interstate Treaty on Gambling – created a comprehensive online betting and gaming market in the country for the first time . Then , at the start of 2023 , the central regulatory authority , the Joint Gambling Authority ( GGL ), opened its doors .
Before the introduction of the latest Interstate Treaty , the last change to gambling regulation had been in 2020 , when regulators lifted a cap on sports betting licences that restricted the market to just 20 operators .
After legal challenges in 2012 , the European Court of Justice had declared Germany ’ s original sports betting laws unlawful , and the subsequent years saw the country trial a new temporary piece of legislation that included the controversial licence cap . After months of wrangling between state ministers , this was finally removed in 2020 , paving the way for a new sports betting licensing scheme .
Under pressure to stifle the country ’ s flourishing black market and introduce a workable law , state leaders thrashed out the 2021 Interstate Treaty on Gambling , completing the picture with licences for online casino and slots . However , operators report that there are still severe limitations in the types of games and betting markets they can offer .
This may go some way to explaining why Europe ’ s largest economy still has a
ICE LONDON 2024 • ISSUE 135 • 63