The State of German Gambling Legislation Overview, Update and Outlook By Dr. Matthias Spitz and Jessica Maier, LL.M., MELCHERS Law Firm, Germany
G
ermany has been an attractive gambling market for a long time. This does not come as a surprise considering its population of roughly 83 Million and economic strength. However, the legendary German efficiency, which is sometimes attributed to Germany, seems to be lacking considerably when it comes to (online) gambling regulation. The gaming industry will primarily have come across Germany as a complicated jurisdiction in which EU law and constant monitoring of regulatory developments play very important roles.
The following is intended to shed some light on how gambling is regulated in Germany as well as on the trends and ongoing political reform discussions. The article will briefly touch on licences available in the land-based sector, but will focus on the regulation and reforms affecting online operations, specifically online sports betting and online casino.
Overview In Germany, gambling regulation has been made subject to state law. In theory, each of the sixteen German states therefore can make its own decisions on how to regulate
49