Hesse reveals 75% channelisation rate for sports betting
Regional authority confirms 11 betting licence applications with seven more expected
Hesse’s new sports betting market will operate at a channelisation rate of 75% towards licensed operators, according to new estimates from state officials.
The Hessian Ministry of State for Sports and the Interior confirmed the figures were based on the authorities receiving 11 applications for sports betting licences from interested operators – accounting for three quarters of the existing market.
Officials have also said that seven further operators indicated they would apply imminently.
Hessian Minister of the Interior Peter Beuth hailed the early positive channelisation estimate as a “gratifying” sign of the appetite for legalised sports betting among operators and that the state’s sports bettors would be protected under a regulated market.
“The sports betting concession process is now picking up speed and according to the current status of applications and announcements, we have already channelled the sports betting market from the formally illegal market to providers willing to legalise at 75 percent,” Beuth added.
The influx of applications has come over a short period, with Hessian authorities admitting in December that they had not received a single sports betting licence application.
The Hessian government has also said it will lobby for the legalisation of online casino gaming to be included as part of a new German Interstate Treaty on Gambling, slated for passage into law during the summer of 2021.
Beuth said that online casino sites should be “approved and monitored” by the state, claiming the Darmstadt regional council, which currently regulates Hessian gambling, should also hold responsibility for national regulation.
“The know-how that has been built up in the Darmstadt regional council, which we have built up as a nationwide sports and online horse betting supervisory authority, predestines Hesse as the home country for this state institution,” Beuth said.
However, Beuth warned against German states over-regulating the industry, claiming it would drive players towards the black market.
“The states must find solutions together that protect the player but at the same time represent a regulation that can be implemented by the provider,” Beuth added.