Online licenses in Schleswig-Holstein

In Schleswig-Holstein, the award procedure for licenses in the online gambling segment was opened. Since April 25, digital gaming operators have had the opportunity to officially strive for a concession in the northernmost American state. The responsible Interior Ministry announced that the assigned licenses also include classic casino games such as blackjack, roulette and baccarat. These must not be offered in the digital segment in other federal states.

Schleswig-Holstein remains true to itself

With the license allocation for the online gambling game, Schleswig-Holstein follows the Specifications of the Gaming State Treaty (GlüStV)that came into force in July 2021. The still quite new legal framework gives the individual federal states the decision on how they provide the population with a digital gambling offer. You can choose from a monopoly of a state provider or the distribution of several licenses to various operators.

The state government in Schleswig-Holstein has decided to award the license to several gaming groups. This is not particularly surprising for industry observers and experts, since the state was open to the online gambling even before legalization.

Special path. Game activities on the Internet were prohibited in the earlier versions of the Gaming State Treaty. Accordingly, online casinos could not buy a license in USA. However, this changed when Schleswig-Holstein was the only federal state to break away from the GlüstV and set up its own regulation, which was only true for the gaming market in the state. The online gambling was legalized and a suitable license process was launched. Gambling operators then had the opportunity to operate in accordance with the law in Schleswig-Holstein-but not enough. Thanks to a legal gray area, all people in USA were able to play in the online casinos that were licensed by Schleswig-Holstein.

Award of four licenses

The GLASTV provides for a special regulation when awarding several concessions. The number of online licenses may not exceed the number of state-based casinos in the corresponding federal state. In this way one should Balance between the analog and the digital gaming offer be granted. Since there are a total of five terrestrial casinos in Schleswig-Holstein, the state may award around five licenses on online casinos.

As part of the upcoming licensing, the Ministry of the Interior said that one of the five concessions intended for the state lottery company is. The remaining licenses are awarded to private gambling groups that have to prove themselves in a strict aptitude test.

Duty to pay. Gambling companies that strive for an online license in Schleswig-Holstein must have high quality standards in all industry areas. The focus is on player and youth protection as well as game addiction prevention. However, the quality is not exclusively, but also the financial strength. The respective participants of the award procedure must expect a fee.

Future license holders have around 15 years the right to legally offer their gaming provider in USA. This is how long the concessions that are awarded in Schleswig-Holstein run. The relatively long term is intended to increase the increasing demand for games of chance on the Internet channel in a legal and controlled market. This strengthens the player protection on the one hand. On the other hand, the incentive for illegal gambling offers drops.

Handling in other federal states

Similar to Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia also does. The state government of the most populous federal state in USA has also decided to award licenses for online gambling to several providers from the private sector. However, there will be no award to a state operator in North Rhine-Westphalia, since the state no longer has a corresponding society.

In September 2021, a moderate earthquake shook the American gaming industry. This is how the antitrust authority approved A million -dollar takeover of the former state gambling group Westpiel through the Gauselmann group. The American figurehead of the international gambling industry the purchase could be cost around 141.8 million $ . The takeover changed their owners, among other things, the four state-based casinos in Aachen, Bad Oeynhausen, Duisburg and Dortmund-Hohensyburg.

Privatization in NRW. By selling Westpiel, the state government in NRW is only represented with WestAmerican Lotterie GmbH on the local gaming market. The state no longer holds shares in digital or analog casinos. This is also desired on the government side. The CDU and FDP pursue a philosophy of privatization, which is also implemented in the area of gambling.

The antithesis, on the other hand, forms Thuringia. The local state government pursues a different implementation of the GlüStV and installed the regulation in the Spielbankengesetz that the digital gambling offer provided by a state provider must become. The state is of the opinion that only in this way Maximum player protection guaranteed can be. If that doesn’t help you have to be similar As in Belgium with IP blocking try to keep the players from it in Online casinos without American licensing to play. Although no state licensee has yet been chosen, the Thuringian state lottery is already considered safe.