Application Deadline for German Sports Betting Licenses Extended

The initial deadline of September 4 for submitting applications in order to receive German sports betting licenses has been extended until September 12, according to Olswang law firm. A total number of twenty licenses are available under the current German gambling laws, since the Interstate Treaty on Gambling (ITG) has come into force on July 1.

Germany gambling news report that the reason for extension stems from the Schleswig-Holstein state. The new government of the progressive German territory is seeking ways to cancel the state’s very own gambling regulation in order to be able to join the federal Interstate Treaty on Gambling.

The newly enacted ITG states that twenty licenses can be issued for private operators of online sportsbooks in Germany. According to some sources, the competent authority in the matter – the Hesse state Ministry of the Interior has already begun the process of issuing licenses to applicants.

The state of Schleswig-Holstein itself has already granted twelve sports betting licenses to various operators, and according to other sources there are another forty four applications in the pipeline: twenty two for sports betting and twenty two for online casino gambling operations.

We have already reported on Schleswig-Holstein being under pressure from the European Commission for its contradictory gambling regulations. Read more in our Schleswig-Holstein Issues More Online Gambling Licenses article.

It remains to be seen what happens to those operators, who already received gambling licenses from Schleswig-Holstein, once the state repeals its own gambling act and joins the Interstate Treaty on Gambling.

In any case German gambling market is one of the biggest in Europe and worldwide, and careful consideration is needed in order to properly regulate and govern all gambling operations.