Last month, the Ministry of the Interior and Sports for the German State of Hesse berated sports betting operators serving Hessian citizens for failing to apply for licensing to provide those services in the state with not a single operator having filed a license application before the 1st January 2020 regulatory rollout.
However, the Minister has revealed that it has now received eleven applications for sports betting licenses and that a further seven operators have made binding commitments to make proposals.
Peter Beuth, the Minister of Interior revealed that according to the current status of applications, at least 75% of operators active in the German sports betting market were anticipating applying for licenses. Beuth went on to say that this is a good sign for player protection in Germany.
Beuth also stressed that the implementation of the third amended State Treaty on Gambling that was ratified by lawmakers in March of last year, was only a short-term effort and that negotiations for a long-term regulatory model, which were due to in 2019, will continue into this year.
In order to replace the State Treaty after it expires on 30th June 2021, Hesse is pressing for a system that will allow online casino together with sport betting, as well as a national self-exclusion system across all product verticals.
The Minister added that the states must work together so that they can find solutions that protect the player but at the same time represent a regulatory framework that is viable for the operator.