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Another major concern for operators is the draconian scheme for offering sports betting markets , something betting companies say is stifling innovation .
Currently , the GGL creates a catalogue of permitted bets that gives operators a limited scope of sports and markets they can offer .
That means , for example , that esports ( which isn ’ t considered a sport in Germany ) is off the table . It also means that upcoming or newer sports have strange conditions attached to them .
Rugby , which is growing in popularity in continental Europe , can be bet on during the Olympics , but not during the Rugby Europe Championships or during
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the national team .
national games . In football , friendlies tend to be ruled out as well , unless they involve
Andric compares the regulated market ’ s limited offering to the
supermarkets with half-empty shelves in GDR-era Germany .
“ That ’ s not attractive ,” he says , “ even if customers tend to mainly play football and only bet on a few sports leagues .” There have also been reports that LUGAS , the monitoring system for sports betting operators , has crashed several times during major sports events , a circumstance that leaves regulated operators unable to process bets at the very time when they are most likely to turn a profit .
“[ Germany ’ s advertising framework ] is probably one of the strictest unless you take a monopoly system or somewhere you have a total ban on advertising ”
LUKA ANDRIC , MANAGING DIRECTOR , DSWV
CHALLENGING REGULATORY REGIME
One of the biggest battlegrounds in Germany ’ s gaming regulation is the lack of a licensing scheme for B2B suppliers and games developers . That means that every game has to be licensed individually for each operator , even if it has already been approved for another operator .
According to German Online Casino Association ( DOCV ), this system is unique in Europe and can lead to the same game being reviewed for approval multiple times .
“ One challenge is that there are currently far too few virtual slot games that are approved for the legal online market ,” says DOCV managing director
ICE LONDON 2024 • ISSUE 135 • 65