Germany to double sport betting licenses

After the European Union declared its gambling laws illegal, Germany agreed to double the number of sports betting licenses.

Germany.- Germany has agreed to double the number of sports betting licenses in compliance to the  European Union (EU) which deemed its gambling laws to be illegal.

Since February 2016, when Court of Justice for the European Union announced that banning online sports-betting was against EU law, Germany has been forced to amend its gaming laws. The European country still has limited its policy change to sports-betting licenses, though.

Last week, representatives of Deutsche Lotto and Totoblock (DLTB) the German pool betting and lottery operator association announced that the number of sports-betting licenses has been raised to 40. However, the issuance of sports betting licenses has been controversial after none of the initial 20 licenses awarded in September 2014 got activated till now, due to a pending legal challenge that was raised against the licensing process. The additional licenses imply that 35 applicants who are currently in the second stage of the said licensing process will automatically be granted their licenses.

During a meeting with 16 state presidents from across the country policy was changed.  After the meeting an earlier session took place at the German Association of Internet Businesses symposium where all key industry stakeholders were present to debate the changes. These amendments including increased sports betting licenses will be made official by June but it I still uncertain if this minor amendment to the treaty would suffice to satisfy the EU courts. Apparently, the European Commission is considering launching an infringement proceeding against Germany for having gambling laws not in compliance with EU laws.