There is a growing conviction that the German market for sports betting machines will re-open by the beginning of next year. The German market was one of the strongest in Europe for sports betting games and many thousands were located, many of them in the country's 8,000 arcades.
The German Government, however, keen to protect its national lottery game, outlawed sports betting games, a line which was enthusiastically supported by most of the country’s ‘lander’ or regional governments, which similarly had vested interests to protect.
However, the sports betting industry, with over 40,000 terminals located in Germany and servers based in other countries, notably Austria and Malta, has lobbied powerfully and threatened legal action under the EC’s anti-competition laws. Some lander have now taken up the cause, including Schleswig-Holstein, which has refused to sign a new contract for the federal sports betting and lotto games. Instead it presented a draft regulation recently, which would permit private companies to offer sports better via the internet and betting terminals. A licence would be needed, plus a substantial guarantee deposit of €1.5m and a tax of 15per cent of the net profit would be imposed.
The federal Lotto would still be under the government’s control, but it would be capable of being offered by licensed companies.
The word reaching InterGame from Germany suggests that without total support from all of the lander, the proposed new regulations covering sports betting and lotteries will fail. Concessions, therefore would almost certainly permit some form of private gaming re-entering the market.
