A Guide to Germany’s Gambling Law and current Legal Trends

provided by The Task Force Gaming & Betting Law

of Heuking Kuhn Luer Wojtek – March 2011

Dear Reader¸

The German gaming and betting market is highly attractive: The “grey” market for sports betting alone is said to represent annual sales of EUR 7.3 bn mainly generated by foreign remote gambling companies. Market players expect a volume of EUR 11 billion p.a. in case of market liberalistion. In comparison¸ the “white” landbased turnover of the German monopoly companies owned by the Federal States has shrunk in this segment to EUR 185 m p.a. Since the European Court of Justice has declared the monopoly provisions of the German Interstate Treaty on Gambling as incompatible with Union law and thus not applicable to service providers from other Member States in September 2010¸ the market has recovered. The stigma of being overregulated is not the last word¸ competitors have regained a chance to be legally present. The Federal States are discussing new models of market regulation¸ not only bearing in mind the ECJ decisions¸ but also looking at the upcoming internal market process¸ which will be initiated by the Commission’s Green Paper on online gambling soon.  These radical changes suggest it to us to regularly monitor the process and to inform our clients¸ colleagues and friends from the industry. The Task Force Gaming & Betting Law of Heuking Kuhn Luer Wojtek consists of experts in national and European regulatory and commercial law who are experienced in helping clients to achieve their objectives. We have prepared the following short overview of the status quo. Enjoy reading it.

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