Adam Roarty is a journalist covering sports betting, regulation, and industry innovation for CasinoBeats. His coverage includes tax increases in the UK, covering breaking stories in the ever-evolving landscape of US betting such as the...
Read Full BioGermany’s gambling regulator, Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), reported betting stats in the country, noting a drop in overall wagering in Q2 compared to Q1 this year.
The report marks the first time the GGL has publicly released betting statistics. The GGL notes the amount staked by Germans on sports, slots, poker, and horse racing.
The total staked across all sectors was €3.5 billion in Q1, falling to €3.2 billion in Q2. All areas experienced a decline in handle in the second quarter, except for slots, which increased from €1.098 billion to €1.115 billion.
Germans wagered a total of €2.179 billion on sports in Q1, which fell to €1.885 billion in Q2. The majority of betting took place online, accounting for approximately 73% of the total in both quarters.
GGL Publishes Figures for Greater Transparency
The GGL stated that it is starting to release the figures “to ensure greater transparency in the legal gambling market and to regularly inform the public and political decision-makers about market developments.”
It added: “An expansion of the reporting format is planned, with additional key figures to be included in the future.”
The 2021 State Treaty on Gambling (GlüStV 2021) introduced several reforms to the German gambling industry. One was to introduce a new German license for providers of online gaming and sports betting.
Additionally, monthly deposit limits for online casinos have been set at €1,000 per player across all platforms, and a €1 stake limit on online slots.
Partly as a result of the limits, it was estimated in 2023 that only around 50% of German gamblers used regulated gambling sites. The number of bettors using unlicensed sites has grown considerably compared to pre-2021 levels.
The GGL published new guidelines in May of this year on how to distinguish between regulated and unregulated online casinos, in a bid to combat the black market.
Americans Bet Much More Than Germans
With the limits in place, Germans are wagering far less compared to Americans. New York leads the way in the US for the highest sports betting handle at more than $6 billion for Q2 this year.
Converting at the current exchange rate, Germans bet just over $2 billion on sports this quarter. Germany, however, has a population of 83.6 million compared to nearly 20 million for New York State. Per capita, Germans bet an average $25.6 in Q2, while New Yorkers staked $302.6.
In New Jersey, the per capita figure was also significantly higher than in Germany, at $294.2 per person. The state reported record revenue for gambling in July, although sports betting declined year-on-year.
New Jersey only releases figures of revenue rather than the amount staked as detailed by the GGL. However, in Connecticut, the amount staked by players in Q2 was reported to be around $4.4 billion, which far exceeds Germany’s $1.4 billion. With a smaller population, gamblers in Connecticut wager approximately 70 times more than those in Germany at regulated online casinos.
A limit on the amount staked would drastically reduce the amount wagered by Americans. But, gambling companies would point to the growth of the unregulated market in Germany as evidence that a limit is not an effective strategy to reduce the real amount being gambled.
