German Gambling Congress 2024 in Berlin

The German Gambling Congress 2024 will take place in Berlin at the end of this month. The main topics include “Lootboxes” and “When illegality becomes normality”. The idea of the congress is for academics, politicians, regulators and gambling providers to enter into a joint dialog.

This year's German Gambling Congress will take place on Wednesday, June 26 and Thursday, June 27, 2024 at the renowned The Westin Grand in Berlin-Mitte. As a representative of the public administration, the participation fee for the event is 249 euros net and representatives of the private sector even have to pay 649 euros net to take part in the exchange of information. Unfortunately, players will not be able to attend the congress.

German Gambling Congress 2024: What are the main topics planned?

According to the official program overview, there are basically four main topics that will be covered at the gambling congress. One of these topics is, of course, loot boxes and the question of whether they should also be classified as gambling in Germany.

A second topic deals with the question of whether legal gaming offers on the Internet are sufficiently attractive. Under the heading “When illegality becomes normality”, the aim is to discuss whether illegal gambling is actually experiencing a massive increase at the moment and what measures can help to counteract this.

The topic “Gambling market - quo vadis?” should be just as interesting. The question of whether there should be more restrictions on virtual slot machines or whether more liberalization would be more promising here will be discussed. The evaluation report on the new Interstate Gambling Treaty (GlüStV) is eagerly awaited, presumably in the first half of 2024.

The final topic area, entitled “Gambling enthusiasts and player protection - how can channeling succeed?”, will focus on the question of whether the regulations in land-based gaming arcades and restaurants should be relaxed in order to better compete against illegal offers.

What does the program look like in detail?

The event will start on June 26 with a welcome address and introduction to the topics outlined above by the publisher and editor-in-chief of Behörden Spiegel, Dr. Eva-Charlotte Proll. Afterwards, there will be a first impulse contract followed by a get-together and networking over dinner.

On June 27, the topics described above will be discussed from 8 am to 5 pm. Among the guests at the event will be Ronald Benter, Chairman of the Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL). Representatives from the gambling industry, science, politics and prevention have also been invited. These include, among others:

• Dirk Wedel (member of the FDP state parliamentary group in North Rhine-Westphalia)
• Dr. Dirk Quermann (President of the German Online Casino Association)
• Mathias Dahms (President of the German Sports Betting Association)
• Lars Rogge (Chairman of the Management Board, Association of the German Vending Machine Industry)
• Manfred Stoffers (Chairman of the Merkur Group)
• Dr. Christian-Henner Hentsch (Professor of Copyright and Media Law at the TH Cologne)
• Dr. Martin Mathies (Professor of Civil Law, Labour and Social Law and Methodology)

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/berlin-fernsehturm-berliner-dom-7285666/