SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Glücksspielbehörde (GGL), the Federal Authority of German Gambling, has initiated a new coordination strategy with state authorities to combat gambling addiction.
Coordination meetings began last week as GGL Chairman Ronald Benter met with Konrad Landgraf, Managing Director of the State Office for Gambling Addiction in Bavaria (LSG).
Benter is scheduled to speak with individual state authorities to improve cooperation and exchange ideas on how to strengthen the laws of the Fourth Interstate Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV) to combat gambling addiction.
The GGL’s individual meetings aim to “better understand the challenges faced by state coordination offices and to develop joint approaches for intensified cooperation.”
The leadership of the GGL identified coordination challenges during its first meeting of interstate authorities in Halle in January 2023, shortly after the Saxony-Anhalt agency assumed the role of Federal Authority for German Gambling.
Seeking to apply a new strategy, Benter stated: “It is crucial for us to hear the perspectives of all relevant interest groups and to get a comprehensive picture of the situation. Player protection and raising public awareness are high priorities for us. Through thematic exchange with the state coordination offices, we are further expanding our expertise.”
The GGL has prioritised feedback from state offices on healthcare and public welfare, which provide prevention and counselling for gambling addiction, as key stakeholders in the reform of GlüStV.
Further meetings are planned, including a visit by Benter to the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office for Gambling Addiction in October 2024, and a joint meeting of all state office representatives at the GGL in autumn.
In 2026, the GGL will present its ‘comprehensive evaluation’ of German gambling to the Bundestag. The study will detail the GGL’s observations on how German gambling has been reformed since the introduction of the GlüStV laws in 2021.
Of significance, the evaluation will present the GGL’s recommendations on new federal protections related to gambling advertisements, which must be authorised by the Bundestag.
On the issue of problem gambling, the GGL supported the research by the Institute of Public Health at the University of Bremen. The 2023 study showed a steady 2.4% rate of gambling disorders among 18-to-70-year-olds since 2021.
However the analysis of GGL-commissioned studies has faced direct criticism from independent observers, who argue that the GGL has supported estimates from gambling studies that fail to account for the high exposure of German consumers to black-market gambling activities – as unlicensed websites reportedly targeting up to 50% of the national consumers.
