The administration office of the German state Saxony-Anhalt has given an online slot machine license to state-owned land-based casino operator Sächsische Spielbanken. Thus, the operator has become the first state-owned company to receive such a license.
Sächsische Spielbanken Is the First State-Owned Gambling Operator to Receive a License for Slot Games
Sächsische Spielbanken has become the 13th gambling operator in Germany to receive a license allowing it to offer online slot machine games, following licenses allocated to Admiral, Tipico, and Rootz, among others.
The operator, however, is the first state-owned entity to receive a license from the Saxony-Anhalt state administration office.
Under the granted license, Sächsische Spielbanken is going to offer online slots through its website Sachsenlotto.de. The website will be available throughout the whole country.
Germany legalized online casino and poker games on July 1, 2021, after the proposal for a new gambling treaty received support from all 16 German states. Before the approval of the new legislation, only sports betting was available online in the country.
So far 13 operators have received slot machine licenses. The most recent additions, that were awarded licenses in October, were Interwetten, which is going to operate interwetten.de and lasmegas.de, and the Novomatic subsidiary Admiral, which will operate admiralbet.de.
In September, Malta-based Rootz also entered the German online slot machines market with a license issued by the Saxony-Anhalt regulator.
According to the current gambling regulations introduced in 2021, the state of Saxony-Anhalt became the home of the new gambling regulator and, thus, the Landesverwaltungsamt Sachsen-Anhalt was founded and assumed responsibility for overseeing the expanding gambling market in the country and the issuance of licenses.
Germany’s Market Expansion Surrounded by Controversy
13 online slot machine licenses have been granted so far but with poker things have not been looking so good.
Operators have not been too willing to apply for a license due to the too-strict regulations included in the State Treaty on Gambling.
According to the introduced legislation, there is a cap of €1 ($1) on the stakes a gambler can wager per slot spin and a maximum wagering limit of €1000 ($1027) per month.
Additionally, gambling operators are obliged to pay taxes on the stakes wagered on slot machines and poker games equaling 5.3%.
Deutsche Sportwettenverband (DSWV), which is the association that represents the gambling industry stakeholders in Germany, has argued that these rules make it very difficult for gambling operators to generate meaningful revenue.
Consequently, according to DSWV, fewer gambling companies would want to enter the German market taken aback by the stringent legislation.