Bookmakers unite to form German Sports Betting Association
Ex-mybet chief exec Matthias Dahms (pictured) to lead members including Tipico, Ladbrokes, Betfair and bet365 to lobby for "stable" regulation
Sports betting operators with a vested interest in the German market have united to form a new body to lobby for “more stable” regulation in the country.
Local operators such as mybet and Admiral Sportwetten have been joined by international firms Ladbrokes and Betfair to form the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV), which will be led by former mybet chief executive Matthias Dahms.
Tipico, StanleyBet and bet365 have also joined the association despite being overlooked for a sports betting licence by the Hessian Ministry of the Interior earlier this month, with the trio said to be among those mounting legal challenges to the licensing procedure.
HappyBet, Cashpoint and Deutsche Telekom-owned Deutsche Sportwetten complete the DSWV line-up.
“We think that by working together we can help create a workable framework in Germany that delivers to the consumer within a responsible framework,” a Ladbrokes spokesperson told eGaming Review this morning.
As well as campaigning for fairer regulation, the body will also target the country’s black market and has earmarked several responsible gambling initiatives to introduce to the country.
“The current situation is untenable. Our goal is to remove the legal uncertainty and to ensure safe betting, both for customers and providers,” Dahms said.
Dahms will serve as the body’s president and be joined by vice presidents Dirk Quermann, who is also the CEO of German supplier Merkur Interactive, and Hans Wolfram Kessler, who is currently the acting general counsel for Tipico.
Luka Andric, who served as Betfair’s head of German public affairs until June this year, has been named as DSWV’s managing director while Sebastian Frevel, managing partner at German legal firm Advice Partners, will act as the body’s senior policy advisor.
The DSWV has also received political backing from Peter Ramsauer, chairman of the committee of economy and energy in the German Bundestag, and Free Democratic Party chairman Wolfgang Kubicki, who has previously condemned the Inter State Treaty and labelled it a complete failure.
“The pressure must be increased or everything will remain the same. The more support we get from the industry, the better,” Kubicki said.
Despite the issue of 20 provisional sports betting licences earlier this month, regulatory progress in Germany is currently uncertain after a number of rejected applicants were successful in their attempts at blocking the process while their legal challenges are heard.
More than 12 complaints were lodged with various administrative courts in the country, with legal experts unsure as to the legitimacy of the Hessian Ministry of the Interior’s licensing procedure going forward.