German gambling regulator wins case against lottery operator
The operator had appealed after the regulator accused it of unlawful advertising.
Germany.- The Federal Administrative Court has rejected an appeal from a social lottery operator against accusations of prohibited advertising. Germany’s federal gambling regulator, the GGL, had found that the operator breached advertising rules because its logo was used in educational material promoting charity work supporting people with disabilities.
In its appeal to the Mainz Administrative Court, the operator argued that the material in question included no references to its gambling products and that therefore it did not breach federal gambling legislation. The Mainz court upheld the appeal, but the GGL then filed its own appeal at the Higher Administrative Court of Koblenz. That court partially overruled the initial decision, which led both parties to submit new appeals to the Federal Administrative Court in Mainz.
In this instance, the court fully agreed with the GGL. It concluded: “The plaintiff’s logo stands for both his charitable activity and his lottery offer. If it is printed on the title page of information and educational materials, this promotes the image of the lottery. At the same time, it motivates us to support the charitable activities, which are known to be financed mainly by lottery revenues.
“Because the logo is known to stand for the lottery as well as for the promotion of inclusion, it also promotes the image of the lottery and motivates the average viewer to join the plaintiff’s charitable activities through lottery participation.”
In January, Scientific Games won an extension to its contract with Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin, the operator of Lotto Berlin. The new contract covers retail and digital lottery sales for seven years. Scientific Games, which has worked with the Berlin lottery for over two decades, will use its Symphony system, which combines retail, digital and mobile channels, including third-party content and platforms.
The system includes SG PAM, a player account management system. The system allows omnichannel sales for scratchcards, iLottery and draw-based games like Eurojackpot, Lotto and Keno.
