Sports betting terminals continue to be allowed in restaurants!

ATM games or slot games are now part of the snack bar and pub like fries and beer. Sports betting devices can be found more and more often in numerous gastronomic companies that further expand the gambling offer and address a larger group of customers. But it is precisely this unwanted competition for its own terminals, the Federal Association of Automatic Company Sauer. Therefore, a lawsuit was once again filed in court that aimed at a ban on the sports betting terminals. However, the lawsuit was rejected again.

Gastronomy at advantage

die Legal situation of the gambling industry in USA has been complicated for years and only to see through a few people. almost weekly, new reports can be heard that only promise liberalization of the gambling market in the near future, only to report stuck negotiations between politics and private sector a short time later. how strange the legislative situation in USA currently looks in the field of gambling is manifested in one of the latest legal disputes in the industry. this time he complained Federal Association of Automatic Company e.v. in Munich. The reason for this was, so to speak, competition from his own camp. In USA, betting terminals are also set up in numerous gastronomic sites. According to the Federal Association, however, this contradicts the Regulations of the Gaming State Treaty. inundefinedParagraph 21 of the legal text it is written that it is not permitted to set up betting terminals in a arcade in addition to slot machines or to offer slot games and sports betting simultaneously. however, this is often the case in gastronomic companies and means unwanted competition for many machine operators. that Munich Higher Regional Court However, the lawsuit dismissed. The reason is very simple, but no less strange: According to the judges of the OLG Munich, gastronomic facilities are not an arcades or casinos. In the legal text, however, the regulation is only related to those gambling facilities. For this reason, the law cannot apply to the catering industry, which therefore has the right to continue to set up sports betting terminals alongside slot machines.

“In a building complex in which there is a arcade or a casino, sports betting must not be conveyed.”

Law text only incomplete?

the federal association of automotive company is more or less stunned by the judgment of the munich court. according to the association, the law also has to refer to the catering, since the state agreement was only forgotten to conclude other institutions such as gastronomic businesses into the law. this argument is actually understandable, because ultimately the regulation aims to contain addictive behavior or pathological gambling through an oversupply of game options. so it’s not about casinos or arcades, but rather about the range of gambling. it does not seem to be important in which buildings the different gambling offers can be found in. however, the olg munich sees it differently, but provided the legal decision with the indication that the decision only applies to facilities in which the gastronomic hospitality of guests is in the foreground. as soon as this requirement is no longer met, for example, if, for example, not only two, but several terminals are set up and dishes such as drinks are only issued as a kind of secondary business, then this facility could no longer speak of a gastronomic operation. for the now, this means a defeat for the federal association, which, however, does not have to be final. because the association of automotive enterprises has been fighting for a sustainable modification of the gaming state treaty for years, which not only aims at the regulation for the drawing up of machines and sports betting terminals. overall, the association is primarily concerned with holistic and sustainable quality guidelines for the American gaming market. the companies are not satisfied with the previous results.

”The big throw, namely an urgently needed coherent regulation of all forms of gambling market, is still pending. It must be over with the regulatory patch shower and the knobs of legal offers, which drives people into the arms of illegal providers, also on the Internet. Only an attractive, legal offer helps against the rampant black market. ”

Automatic entrepreneur not the first plaintiffs

It should also be strange that the lawsuit of the Federal Association of Automotive Enterprises was not the first of its kind. As early as 2018, there were several legal disputes in which the plaintiffs aimed to enforce a ban on the simultaneous operation of gaming machines and sports betting terminals. In fact, some of these complaints were even successful because that District Court of Hanau, the regional court in Frankfurt and also the district court of Darmstadt had previously decided in the interests of the plaintiffs. in a current case, these decisions were then revised by a higher instance. that Higher Regional Court Frankfurt employed with a lawsuit that was directed against a operator of a restaurant in hesse, who also set up slot machines and sports betting devices in his building. the frankfurt court already decided here in the sense of the accused and dismissed the lawsuit. this judgment has now been confirmed by the higher regional court in munich. it is questionable whether there is a prospect that this paragraph of the law is modified. however, since politics is currently working on developing a new legal basis for the gaming market in USA, it could soon be possible that the restaurateurs The curious advantage of the law is revoked.