Who are the German sports betting licensees?
Details of the 20 operators to have been approved for a German sports betting licence yesterday
After a process continually dogged by delays and legal arguments, a total of 20 operators were awarded a German sports betting licence by the Hessian Ministry of the Interior yesterday and the list included its share of surprises.
Alongside established names such as Ladbrokes, Betclic, bwin.party and Betfair were operators widely expected to receive a licence such as Deutsche Telekom’s sports betting business Deutsche Sportwetten.
But there were also a number of land-based establishments with little to no history of an online operation and a number of well-established European brands were conspicuous by their absence.
The successful applicants in full were:
Cashpoint (Malta) Ltd
Currently licensed by the LGA, the sportsbook operator has strong ties to the German market and has official partnerships with Bundesliga football clubs Wolfsburg and Hertha Berlin, as well as the German ice hockey league. Established in 1996, the company also has an established land-based presence with more than 200 betting offices and supplies betting terminals to other firms.
Admiral Sportwetten GmbH
The Austrian sports betting brand is part of the Novomatic group and another company more commonly associated with land-based betting than online. It’s UK-facing Admiral Bet site ceased trading in June last year, however its dot.de website has continued to trade.
ODS Oddset Deutschland Sportwetten GmbH
The German state sports lottery brand had been one of the operators most forthright in trying to force the regulator’s hand and in April this year the Hessian Administrative Court of Appeal was forced to repeal an earlier court order which sought to force the regulator to make a decision on Oddset’s licence application within three months, citing it had no means to do so in that timeframe.
Oddsline Entertainment AG
Formed in 2005, Oddsline is another German betting company that is predominantly land-based. Oddsline provides various sports betting services to betting outlets and other land-based establishments throughout Germany, but made its interest in an online licence early on.
Primebet International Ltd
One of the original Schleswig-Holstein licensees, bookmaker Primebet is one of two betting subsidiaries of the BetBull group alongside Wettenleip and was originally licensed by the LGA in 2001.
ElectraWorks Ltd (bwin.party)
Bwin.party’s Gibraltar-based operational subsidiary manages the brand’s sports betting and casino activity under a Gibraltar licence, and the operator will be strongly expected to do well in the jurisdiction. Bwin.party revealed last week that 26% of H1 net revenues come from Germany, making it the operator’s largest market by quite some distance.
Digibet Ltd
The multi-channel operator has been one of the companies to shout the loudest over the perceived lack of transparency of the licensing procedure and the operator also questioned how two separate licensing structures could work in the same country. These points were dismissed by the Court of Justice of the European Union in June this year.
Bet at home.com Internet Ltd (Betclic)
Originally founded in Austria in 1999, bet-at-home.com became part of the Betclic Everest Group in 2009. The multi-channel operator has an established presence throughout Europe and will be expected to be among the early frontrunners in the market alongside the likes of bwin.party.
Ladbrokes International PLC
Perhaps a surprise entry to the list with Ladbrokes having previously ruled out expanding in Europe beyond Spain and Belgium, and Ladbrokes has said it will bide its time before launching in the country with the regulatory process still far from certain.
Bet90 Ltd
Based and licensed in Malta, Bet90 has sought to find a niche for itself in offering only football-based sports betting. Alongside its dot.com site the operator has a Belgium-facing online brand and a substantial land-based presence, with its Bet90 betting shops and media terminals common in the country.
Deutsche Sportwetten GmbH
Global telecommunications giant Deutsche Telekom first proposed to enter the online sports betting market in September last year through the purchase of Deusche Sportwetten, and is expected to mount a serious challenge to the more globally recognised brands. Deutsche Telekom has strong links to domestic sport and sponsors reigning Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich.
Personal Exchange International Ltd (mybet)
Operating under the mybet brand, the firm has a strong brand in Germany having been present both in the land-based market and online under a Schleswig-Holstein licence. Having all but disposed of its Italy and Spain-facing units, Germany will be a major play for the operator which has undergone an overhaul of its online business over the past few months.
Polco Ltd (Betfair)
A subsidiary of Betfair, which first withdraw from the German online market in 2012 citing the country’s tax regime left its exchange betting product “unviable”. Since then however Betfair has developed a strong fixed-odds product and it is expected to make a big impact in Germany.
Intermedia GmbH
A surprising inclusion on the list given that the company has no sports betting product to date. Formed in 1990, the company’s only gambling presence is the Funny World Casinos based in Bad Hazburg.
Bernd Hobiger Wettbüro Goldesel
A licensed bookmaker in Germany since 1990, the Wetten Goldesel brand has yet to launch an online sportsbook. Its founder Bernd Hobiger has strong links to fellow licensee Digibet.
RULEO Alpenland GmbH
Another operator to have previously been awarded a Schleswig-Holstein licence, RULEO Alpenland was founded just two years ago in Salzburg and subsequently launched the btty sportsbook app for the German market. Btty has placed emphasis on simplifying the sports betting process for those previously unfamiliar with it.
Racebets International Gaming Ltd
Malta-licensed Racebets is a horse racing-focused bookmaker which offers horse race betting from across the world and is part-owned by domestic horse racing body German Racing. The operator has been licenced since 2010.
Albers Wettbörsen Deutschland oHG mbH
Albers Wettboerse is an established bookmaker in Germany having originally launched in the country in 1949. Traditionally a horse racing bookmaker, the firm diversified in the early 2000s and has a large presence in Germany’s betting market.
IBA Entertainment Ltd
Trading under the Bet3000 brand the operator is yet another Malta licensee to receive approval from the German regulator. The multi-vertical operator withdraw from Belgium and Greece last year but remained active in Germany under a Schleswig-Holstein licence.
Star Sportwetten GmbH
Founded in 2001, Star Sportwetten is licensed in Austria and based in Innsbruck. The firm is entirely land-based with a number of sports betting branches across Austria.