Is Bet3000 withdrawing from the German market?

The rumour mill at the well-known German gambling provider Bet3000 has been churning for a few days now. Since the last update on 25 July 2024, IBA Entertainment Limited, the company behind Bet3000, is no longer on the official whitelist. So has Bet3000 now voluntarily withdrawn from the German sports betting market or has the authority revoked the provider's licence?

It was only in mid-June of this year that we at GambleJoe reported that the first provider had already lost its German sports betting licence. This was Tipster Limited, which disappeared from the market following a major raid for illegal gambling, tax evasion and illegal employment, among other things. Now another well-known sports betting provider appears to have been hit. Since the last update of the official whitelist on 25 July 2024, IBA Entertainment Ltd, operator of Bet3000, has been missing from the list.

Why has Bet3000 disappeared from the official whitelist?

The whitelist provides information on which gambling providers have a licence for which forms of gambling in Germany and are therefore legal. The list is maintained by the Joint Gambling Authority of the federal states (GGL) and is updated at irregular intervals. After the last update, however, we were surprised that the entry for IBA Entertainment Ltd. suddenly disappeared without prior notice.

The company, which was founded in 2006, operated for years on the German-speaking market with a Maltese EU licence. Following the re-regulation of the German gambling market, the company successfully applied for a German sports betting licence. In 2020, Bet3000 was one of the first providers in Germany to receive a sports betting licence. To date, there has been no official statement from either the gambling authority or the gambling provider.

The German-language Bet3000 website states succinctly:

"We will be back soon! We apologise for the inconvenience, but we are currently carrying out maintenance work. We will be back online shortly! - Bet3000 Team".

Speculation about licence withdrawal - or is the German market simply not worth it?

Strictly speaking, the adjustment of the official whitelist means that Bet3000 is no longer a legal sports betting provider and therefore no longer fulfils the legal requirements. It is therefore no wonder that Bet3000 has taken its website offline to be on the safe side and avoid any further consequences. According to unconfirmed information, all of the brand's branches have now also been temporarily closed.

Theoretically, it is also conceivable that IBA Entertainment Ltd. has voluntarily returned its sports betting licence and wants to withdraw from the German market. Possible reasons could include insufficient turnover or overly strict regulatory conditions. However, this is only speculation.

Now that Bet3000 is no longer a legal sports betting provider in Germany (for the time being), interested betting fans will have to look for an alternative. In our current sports betting provider comparison, there are currently ten providers listed in the official whitelist:

All sports betting providers with a German licence at a glance

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/photos/deutsche-flagge-deutschland-3504961/