Germany to allow early rollout of its regulated iGaming market

In Germany and federal officials have reportedly announced that iGaming operators are to be allowed to start offering their services to local players without fear of prosecution from next month.

According to a report from iGamingBusiness.com, Europe’s most prosperous nation is due to launch a regulated iGaming market from the first day of July under the auspices of its New State Treaty on Gambling (GluNeuRStV). This piece of legislation was purportedly ratified in March and will additionally institute a maximum single stake slot limit of €1 ($1.18) while constraining in-play sportsbetting markets to next goal scorer and final results.

Autumn arrival:

However, rather than having to wait until next summer to start their German operations, iGamingBusiness.com reported that iGaming firms are to be permitted to legally launch from October 15 so long as they agree to begin complying with the tenets of the GluNeuRStV. The source detailed that this piece of legislation moreover mandates that online casino and table games be offered separately with this latter group subject to a state-specific exclusively provision that is to tie their ultimate quantity to the number of compatriots featured within local land-based facilities.

Conversion concerns:

The interim move comes as Germany is still waiting for at least 13 of its 16 states to endorse the GluNeuRStV, which will furthermore limit iGaming players to depositing a maximum of a €1,000 ($1,185) per month, with several of these having earlier expressed misgivings about the lack of a transitional iGaming framework.

Prominent player:

London-listed retail and online sportsbook behemoth GVC Holdings, which has a strong presence is Germany via its Bwin brand, was reportedly also a leading proponent of securing a more gradual market launch and began circulating its own transitional framework last month. This document purportedly explained that the firm’s operations could inaugurate required customer identification controls in as little as ten weeks before following up with the roll out of the mandated deposit limits.