The sports betting industry in Germany has exploded in recent years, and is set to go up to 5 billion Euros for 2016. Despite the fact that online and land-based sports wagering can often be fraught with legal complications, the German market has grown to dizzying proportions.
German sports betting
In 2015, sports betting providers were operating within a market worth just over 2 billion Euros, so it’s not an understatement to say that iGaming and visiting the betting shop is now more popular than ever with German players.
GoldMedia is a prominent analytics organisation, and has produced a report on online and outlet-based sports betting in Germany. The report concluded that the industry will be worth 5.12 billion Euros for 2016, which is a significant increase since last year. A minimum of half of the projected value of sports betting services on German soil is expected to be generated by the ongoing UEFA Euro 2016 games.
Examination of gaming outlets
GoldMedia’s findings came about as the result of an examination of the activities of betting outlets and online betting facilities. This includes organisations that are licenced to offer their services in Germany, and those who pay taxes in Germany from money earned from wagering – even if they don’t have official permission from the government to do so.
Grey operators
The companies that facilitate sports betting in Germany without a licence are known as ‘grey’ operators, due to their questionable legal status. GoldMedia has concluded that these operators will be responsible for 4.9 billion Euros of the expected boom for 2016. The rest, just over 200 million Euros, will be generated from ODDSET. ODDSET is owned by the German government, and is the only organisation in the country to be fully licenced for operation in the country.It would seem that the sky really is the limit for the sports betting market, and it will be interesting to see how big it can really get in Germany and on a global basis. .