Arcades at risk
The German Prime Minister’s Conference of Warnemunde announced last month that the 16 German Lander, or federal states, have agreed on a new state treaty on gambling.
The agreement is a departure from a 2012 treaty that limited sports betting to a total of 20 licensees and rejected all forms of online betting. The new version will put no cap at all on sports betting licenses, instead measuring the suitability of applicants based on “minimum quality standards.”
The treaty may also change the monthly wagering limit of €1,000 (US$1,110) to a monthly loss limit of the same amount. While calling for stronger enforcement of laws against illegal online gaming, it also opens the door to a legal online gaming industry.
However, the new regulations, which may go into place early next year, could affect thousands of gaming arcades in Germany and cause some of them to close. Location is a factor; the gaming halls, which typically offer low-stakes games, cannot legally operate within 500 meters of each other. Arcade operators reportedly first learned of the pending change in July.
EurActiv.com reported that the prospect of new regulations has caused upheaval and uncertainty in the German gaming industry and raised concerns about compliance with EU laws. The website pointed to the minimum-distance rule as one that may render the regulatory package unconstitutional.
