Gauselmann board criticises gambling regulation in Germany

The current gambling regulations in Germany are an absurdity for most players: too many restrictions, too little fun and too many alternatives on the illegal market. For the most part, the authorities and politicians defend the measures. Recently, however, more and more critical voices have been raised, including those from the business community. Lars Felderhoff, CFO of Gauselmann, recently spoke out in an ntv podcast.

With the podcast "So techt Deutschland", ntv deals weekly with different topics around digital trends, innovations and failures. The ntv presenters talk to founders, politicians, investors and entrepreneurs about how the country is doing as a technology location.

Gauselmann manager Lars Felderhoff was a guest at the beginning of June 2023. He had clear words for the current gambling regulation in Germany. Basically, the episode was about clarifying the effects of the current model.

Felderhoff is certain that the current regulations stand in the way of a competitive black market. It is therefore hardly surprising that gamblers are increasingly turning to illegal offers, the Gauselmann CFO said.

Too much of a good thing favours the black market

Lars Felderhoff argues on ntv that he does not believe the current legal framework is sufficient to effectively get players out of the black market. He openly and directly criticises the approach of the authorities and politicians: "Unfortunately, the legislator has failed to adopt a regulation that allows for competitiveness".

He goes on to speak of "old-fashioned" views on gambling regulation, which would not least be an obstacle to innovation. The strict restrictions would strongly favour the black market.

Gambling operators under obligation, but legal offers also need to be made more attractive

Lars Felderhoff sees a clear duty on the part of the gaming companies. They have a channelling mandate and must actively contribute to steering players away from the illegal sector. But this would only be possible if legal online casinos and sports betting platforms had truly attractive offers that could compete with those on the black market.

Gambling regulation has an important role to play here. According to Felderhoff, whether a game convinces people depends on its speed ("5-second rule"), the size of the bets ("1 euro limit", "1,000 euros as monthly deposit limit") or additional features. He does not believe that there are sufficient pull mechanisms in the current legal situation.

Among other things, the CFO objects to the monthly deposit limit of €1,000. "Too little," he says: Today's players would only find offers attractive if they had the possibility to play with more money, which would also mean greater chances of winning. As soon as the legal framework is exhausted, people quickly switch to an illegal portal.

These requirements of the German regulation are particularly often criticised

Most regular players are well aware of the restrictions imposed by German online casino regulation. In particular, the following points are often criticise

1. Five-second rule
2. Autoplay exclusion
3. Stake limit of 1 euro per round
4. Gambling tax and thus the reduction of the RTP
5. Break of 5 minutes per hour of playing time
6. The small selection of approved games
7. Deposit limit of 1,000 euros per month

This ranking is the result of a survey GambleJoe conducted among its users. The quintessence of ntv's interview with Lars Felderhoff also becomes clear here: namely that most players do not consider offers with a German licence to be competitive.

Conclusion

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