German States Liberalize Sports Betting Market - Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek Reacts by Establishing a "Task Force Gaming & Betting Law"

On March 10, 2011, the prime ministers of the German States agreed in principle on opening the German sports betting market to private operators.

It is to be specified in further steps what the Inter-State Treaty on Gambling will look like as of January 1, 2012. The 16 states thus draw the consequences from the "German" decisions of the European Court of Justice of September 8, 2010 in the Stoss et al., Winner Wetten and Carmen Media cases, where the old Inter-State Treaty on Gambling in its elements of protection of the state gambling monopoly was infringing union law and therefore was held to be inapplicable to providers from other EU Member States.

Now, a concession model in the sports betting segment is to allow private providers from Germany and abroad access to operation and sales. For lotteries, the operation monopoly will likely continue, but not the sales monopoly. Crucial: the bizarre online ban will soon belong to the history of law.

Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek represents national and foreign online gaming providers in their activities in Germany and abroad. Michael Schmittman, Partner of the law firm and editor of the first German-language "Series on European Gaming Law" in publishing house Medien und Recht Vienna/Munich comments on the current legal development:

"Finally, the legislature draws those consequences from European Union law, which we have always represented in our proceedings under civil and administrative law. The Task Force Gaming & Betting Law offers our clients an experienced team of specialists that can provide comprehensive counsel on market entry from the application for the necessary state permits up to the subsequent product offering to the customer."

In its "Guide to Germany´s Gambling Law und current Legal Trends" the Task Force provides a concise and vivid presentation of the convoluted German law in its current state.