German Sports Betting Association demands regulation
DSWV, the German body in charge of sports betting, has demanded a practicable and consumer-oriented regulation.
Germany.- The German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) has called for a fundamental reform of the local gambling regulation. The association will be part of the annual ministerial conference that takes place in Elmau today and tomorrow, where it will call for a regulation that recognises social realities and creates a legally secure foundation for existing markets.
The DSWV said that as the existing 3rd State Treaty on State Revisions expires on June 30, 2021, Germany needs a new gambling regulation. It said that its members are concerned about the negotiations around a new regulation because many said that some regulations present more risks than opportunities for player protection.
“Consumer protection and regulation are not mutually exclusive. Only if the policy transfers the existing online markets into a regulated framework, player and consumer protection will be successful,” said DSWV President Mathias Dahms.
“The inevitably proposed cuts in the sports betting program, artificial barriers in the form of a cross-provider and cross-game limits and a continuation of the prohibition policy in online gaming would only urge customers to non-regulatory willingness providers in the unprotected black market,” added Dahms.
“The proposed measures are based on the misconception that the availability of a sufficiently attractive range of games and the simultaneous increase in demand automatically lead to an increased search risk. It is completely neglected that from a scientific perspective, a particular danger of online gambling can not be proven. In addition, the figures collected by the Gambling Supervisors and the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) are ignored, and these same fears are again refuted,” argued the DSWV.
Moreover, the association said that the market for online betting and online games has nearly quintupled in Germany between 2009 and 2017. The BZgA shows in studies that the explosive growth of the online gambling market has not led to any additional addiction problems.
“The channelling of previously unregulated gaming services in a regulated market must be the prime objective of a new state gaming agreement. The offers must be so attractive that consumers prefer them to the black market,” said Dahms.
