According to a press release of 28 October 2016, the Prime Minister Conference agreed to repeal the limitation to 20 licenses for private sports betting providers. Further, the German gambling regulators are invited to take appropriate enforcement measures on illegal gambling, in particular, online-gambling.
Background
In 2012, the new Interstate Treaty on Gambling (Glücksspielstaatsvertrag – “GlüStV”) entered into force. The current GlüStV 2012 allows for only a limited number of 20 sports betting licenses for private sports betting providers across Germany, Section 10a(3) GlüStV. This limitation led to severe concerns by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its judgment of 4 February 2016, C-336/14. Further, on 15 April 2016, the Administrative Court Wiesbaden ordered the Federal State Hessen to grant a sports betting license to the benefit of a sports betting provider based in Malta; in particular, the Administrative Court Wiesbaden held that the limitation to 20 licensors would qualify as breach of the freedom to provide services as guaranteed under Article 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
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