At the beginning of 2020, Germany adopted an experimental sports betting regime that was authorized in the Third State Treaty on Gambling. Thanks to the new regulatory regime, operators in the country have been able to apply for licenses in order to offer their services and products to the country’s residents. This experimental framework will remain in place until June 30, 2021, as the lawmakers work towards permanent sports betting laws.
However, sports betting is not the only gambling vertical that is taking off in the state. In the just-concluded month, the heads of the country’s 16 states were able to come to a consensus regarding the future of the country’s gambling industry.
According to partiers close to the matter, the regulatory framework that was discussed by the 16 head of states is set to lift the ban on online poker and online casinos that has existed in the country for quite some time. Soon, gambling operators in the country will be able to offer various online poker and casino titles to Germany’s very lucrative gaming market.
“States will formulate and enforce regulatory and technical requirements and the new legislation will be the basis for a sufficiently attractive online gambling offering, to ensure the channeling of gambling into the legal market,” German ministerial official Dirk Schrodter elaborated.
It is still too early to predict how things will turn out but the information we have so far points to a very efficient model of regulation.
New Regulatory Body to be Formed
One of the biggest highlights of the announcement of the new regulatory body is the plan for new gambling regulation authority. According to the details from the announcement, the new regulatory body will be tasked with, among other things, the licensing of various online gambling activities that will be conducted within its jurisdiction.
This will apply across all of the 16 states – in other words, the regulatory body will be accepting applications from all 16 states and issuing national licensed. However, as German ministerial official Dirk Schrodter elaborated, each of the states will still have the power to implement its own regulatory and technical frameworks.
Needless to say, the news that the heads of the German states had come to a consensus regarding online gambling was a huge relief for avid followers of the industry and the potential operators. The issues have been subject to lots of disagreement over the past several years. This much progress is therefore very impressive.
