The German state of Hesse’s efforts to allow sportsbook operators a way into the country’s sports betting market has been paused by the Administrative Court of Kassel.
Since that permanent regulations are not in force, the court decided that the state is not entitled to demand operators secure a Duldung (toleration) to continue offering their services in Germany, responding to an appeal filed by a Malta-licensed operator.
A number of factors have been cited by The Court such as the application process wasn’t entirely transparent and that Hesse’s scheme was less about opening up its market and more about imposing penalties on unauthorized operators. Τhe Court concluded that online sports betting was a transnational issue, and thus beyond the scope of an individual state to dictate rules to international companies.
When the 16 states adopted a federal state treaty on gambling in 2012, it was considered illegal by many domestic judgments and the European Union as a result the states agreed for a new treaty in March due to enter into force in 2018. This treaty already considered unsustainable by the European Commission and wants from Germany to remove all artificial limits on the number of sports betting licenses and to extend the scope of the Treaty to include other flat Peaks like poker and casino.
