By Dr. Michael Stulz-Herrnstadt and Christoph Engelmann
Nearly four years have passed since the new State Treaty on Gambling (GlueStV) came into force allowing up to 20 sports betting licenses. The German gambling authorities reviewed the applications for sports betting licenses, decided that 35 companies meet the requirements and selected 20 companies to receive a license. But because of court challenges no license has been issued which led to criticism by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
On Friday (15 April 2016) the administrative court of Wiesbaden (VG Wiesbaden) ordered the German gambling authorities to issue a sports betting license for one of the companies in the places 21 to 35. The court held that the limitation to only 20 licenses is contrary to EU law. Because the gambling authorities already decided that the company meets the requirements for a sports betting license they are required to issue the license without applying the limit of 20.
This is the first decision that orders German gambling authorities to issue a sports betting license under the current gambling regulation. With its decision the court “anticipates” the next move of the German gambling legislator which is rumored to be the extension of the limit of 20 to at least double the size. The legislator’s decision is expected in June.
