Germany’s state premiers reached an agreement on Thursday to open up the sports betting market with a concession model in the new State Treaty on Games of Chance (Glücksspiel-Staatsvertrag - GlüStV). It is still unclear how far this market liberalisation will go. 

Opening up the sports betting market – which poses a much greater danger of addiction than lotteries – can only mean that the brokerage and marketing of harmless lotteries will also be liberalised and that unnecessary restrictions for advertising and sales will be loosened, especially on the Internet. Should such changes not be part of the new GlüStV, the consequence would be further legal chaos in German courts and the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

Dr. Hans Cornehl, CEO of Tipp24 SE, states: “Opening up the market for sports betting, despite its greater potential for gambling addiction, must inevitably also lead to a liberalisation of the brokerage and marketing of state-run lotteries. We appeal to Germany’s Minister Presidents to adopt a decision at their special conference on 6 April which will also provide lotteries with a legally and economically viable basis for a sustainable future. The sooner a sensible and EU-compliant solution can be found the better. Tipp24 would like to return to the German market as soon as possible.”

In September 2010, the ECJ already declared key restrictions of the current GlüStV legally unacceptable. Germany’s monopoly rules failed to meet the requirements for a coherent, systematic and proportionate regulation of the gaming market. The lottery monopoly cannot be justified by its claim of combating gambling addiction, while at the same time more dangerous games, such as automated games, casinos and horse racing, are regulated more weakly – especially if sports betting is now also to be liberalised. 

The current lottery monopoly is justified by the claim that it protects the population against gambling addiction. Such an addiction, however, is non-existent for lotteries such as the German “Lotto 6 from 49” – this has been scientifically proven. Reputable experts in constitutional law therefore believe that a renunciation of the current key justification for Germany’s lottery monopoly – the potential danger of addiction – is now urgently required. After all, automated games, horse racing and privately run casinos are far more addictive yet will continue to be handled much more liberally in future than the completely harmless “Lotto 6 from 49”. In other European countries, lottery monopolies are justified by legal proceedings brought due to a lack of transparency, fraud or manipulation. The political decision to be taken by Germany’s Minister Presidents should be guided by such examples.

The Administrative Court of Chemnitz – as well as other courts before it – recently confirmed that the addiction argument did not represent a suitable justification. Key restrictions of the GlüStV were declared inapplicable. The online brokerage of state-run lotteries does not require permission and advertising for lottery products is allowed. The legislator’s current assessment of the dangers represented by lotteries is unjustifiable and flawed.

About Tipp24 SE: Tipp24 SE (formerly Tipp24 AG) was founded in September 1999 and holds equity interests in a number of companies in Spain, Italy and the UK, which enable participation in lottery-based games via the Internet, especially via the websites www.ventura24.es, www.giochi24.it, www.mylotto24.co.uk and www.tipp24.com. In Germany, Tipp24 Entertainment GmbH operates the games platform www.tipp24games.de. From its foundation to the end of 2008, Tipp24 SE brokered tickets worth over 1.5 billion euros to the state lottery companies – in recent years over 330 million euros annually. Following its successful IPO in 2005 (Prime Standard), the company was admitted to the SDAX index in June 2009 and has been trading as a European public limited company since December 2009.

Press contact:
Tipp24 SE
Andrea Fratini
Head of Media and Public Relations
Phone: +49 40 32 55 33-660
Fax: +49 40 32 55 33-5600
E-Mail: presse@tipp24.de
Internet: www.tipp24-se.de/presse