Five more Schleswig-Holstein licences issued
Bet3000 operator IBA Entertainment among the latest recipients of a sports betting licence, with Betway awarded a casino licence.
Four more egaming operators have been awarded online sports betting licences in Schleswig-Holstein, bringing the total number of licensees for the vertical up to 22.
The latest quartet to earn accreditation in the region includes IBA Entertainment Ltd, which operates the Bet3000 site and is also licensed by the Maltese Lotteries and Gaming Authority (LGA).
It is the second Malta-based company to receive a Schleswig-Holstein sports betting this month, following Primebet International’s approval last week.
A further Malta licensee, Betway, has become the thirteenth operator approved for online casino and poker in the jurisdiction. The company already holds an Italian egaming licence, launching slots with Prima Networks last month, while it is also licensed in Denmark and Spain.
The other new licensees are Nordbet, which is based in the Schleswig-Holstein town of Pinneberg, as well as Austrian company RULEO Alpenland GmbH and World of Sportsbetting Ltd. All three are now licensed to offer online sports betting.
After beginning to award egaming licences in the early part of last year, Schleswig-Holstein opted in July to abolish its existing regulations in favour of a return to Germany’s controversial State Treaty. However it has continued to issue more licences in the intervening period – including its first poker and casino licences last month – meaning there have now been 35 licences issued across online poker, casino and sports betting.
Late last year the European Commission issued a detailed opinion against the breakaway region returning to the State Treaty, however the standstill period which followed the opinion came to a close earlier this month.
Bwin.party is among the operators to be awarded a casino and poker licence in Schleswig-Holstein, and the London-listed business stated in its pre-close update two weeks ago: “There is now a question over how the existing regime in Schleswig-Holstein can co-exist with the alternative system proposed by the other 15 Länder,”
“Despite the recent detailed opinions and the possible threat of a formal infringement procedure, Schleswig-Holstein may choose to press ahead with the revocation of its existing law and its accession to the framework proposed by the other 15 Länder,” it added.
However, analyst Ivor Jones of Numis Securities has said the fact that the Land has continued to award licences ultimately makes it “even more difficult” the states to implement the Interstate Gambling Treaty. He explained that the contrasting regimes within Germany showed a lack of clarity as to which regulatory model operators should follow, suggesting that this could prompt the EC to intervene.
“European law requires that the laws of member states are ‘coherent,’ i.e. consistent in application to companies inside and outside the country. A situation has now been created where the law will not even be coherent within Germany,” he said in December last year.