One of the effects of a new draft amendment to the German State Treaty on Gambling would be to eliminate the existing quota on new and online sports betting licenses to allow for more than 20 licenses.
It would also extend the experimental phase from sports betting by two years to June 2021. If all of the German states ratify the treaty by December 2019 it would go into force January 2020.
The purpose of the new treaty is to provide clarity for potential sports betting operators and third parties such as payment service providers and sports clubs.
The German state Hesse has indicated its intention to be among the first to issue licenses and wants the procedure in place as soon as possible.
Another reason for putting the new regulations in place ASAP is to provide a way to clamp down on illegal operators.
The 16 prime ministers of the German states will discuss the proposal at a conference to be held March 21 and are likely to sign the new State Treaty soon after. This would then need to be ratified by the state legislatures by the end of the year to become law.
The new treat does not address online casinos; however the German leaders are discussing a way that the state of Schleswig-Holstein could extend existing online gaming licenses until June 2021 to keep them from expiring. After which they could be brought into the new structure.
