Apply for permission to conduct or arrange sports betting

Prerequisites

You must be at least 18 years old.
You must be domiciled in a member state of the European Union or in a state that is party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area in order to be able to apply for permission to host virtual slot machines in Germany.
In addition, you must meet the requirements of the 2021 State Treaty on Gambling:
- Extended reliability (no illegal gambling, transparent ownership and ownership structure)
- Efficiency (sufficient own funds, profitability, insurance protection)
Transparency and security of gambling

Documents required

- Presentation of the company structure
- Criminal record
- Excerpt from the central trade register
- Business registration (copy)
- Certificate of no objection
- Certificate from the tax office responsible for the tax on virtual machine games
- Printout from the joint enforcement portal of the federal states
- Proof of competence
- Legal origin of the required funds
- Certification from an independent auditor
- Presentation of the profitability taking into account the tax obligations (economic concept)
- Payment processing concept
- IT security concept
- Money laundering concept
- social concept
- Sales concept
- advertising concept
- Description of what game-related information is made available to players on the website and how this is presented
- Explanation of how the information about the addiction risks of the virtual machine games offered, the ban on the participation of minors and the counseling and therapy options are carried out
- Notification of the probable amount of stakes in the Federal Republic of Germany for the next 5 years
- Presentation of the measures to prevent manipulation
- Printout of the General Terms and Conditions (GTC) for virtual slot machines on the Internet
- Declaration of the auditor on the ability to perform
- Declaration of a tax consultant, legal adviser, declaration of an auditor on the ability to perform

Please note

The digital application process in this online service will be available from January 1st, 2023. From then on, the responsibility for granting permission for sports betting on the Internet lies with the joint gaming authority of the federal states. Until then, applications can be submitted to the Darmstadt Regional Council.
The BIS (Authority for Internal Affairs and Sport) in Hamburg is responsible for the formal inspection and release (accompanying specialist authority in the country of implementation).
The Saxony-Anhalt State Administration Office, Department 208, is responsible for the content of the transitional tasks relating to gambling

Deadlines

Usually valid for 5 years


In justified individual cases, a shorter duration is possible.

Procedure

Permission to organize sports betting can be applied for online and in writing.
If you want to apply in writing for permission to conduct sports betting:
- In the first step, edit the "Main application" form.
- In the main application, provide information about the organizer, all authorized representatives and other responsible persons. Furthermore, information on the reliability of the organizer and information on sales and processing must be provided.
- You must have completed your application before submitting it. It is permissible for required documents to be submitted later if they were not already available when the application was submitted. However, the competent authority can only process applications once all documents have been submitted.
- In the course of the application being processed by the competent authority, you must ensure that a security deposit of at least EUR 5 million and a maximum of EUR 50 million is provided.
- After submitting the main application, you must submit a downstream application for each virtual slot game. Provide information on the technical access to the virtual slot machine games, as well as all details (name, type, URL, category and the game rules). You can submit the subsequent application immediately after the main application, but no later than two weeks after the permission has been granted the main request.
- After completion of the examination and approval by the joint gaming authority of the federal states (GGL), you will receive a permit by post.
If you want to apply online:
- Set up a corporate/citizen account online.
- In this case, you will receive the permit directly via your service account.
- Communication with GGL also works via your service account.
- The remaining steps are identical to the written procedure.

Processing time

The processing depends to a large extent on the completeness and quality of the application documents and on the response time to any additional letters of demand. The processing time is at least 3 months.

Fees

variable

Legal remedies

Opportunity to sue (instructions on how to appeal will be issued with the respective permit granted)

Legal basis

Section 21 of the State Treaty on the New Regulation of Gaming in Germany (Gaming State Treaty 2021 - GlüStV 2021) of October 29, 2020


https://www.landesrecht.sachsen-anhalt.de/bsst/document/jlr-Gl%C3%BCStVtrST2021rahmen

You can apply for a permit to conduct sports betting.
You can only place sports bets in Germany with a valid permit.
The permit procedure contains a main application for the general permit.
Applicants can be the organizers themselves or authorized persons (internal of a company or external, for example lawyers).
Permission to organize sports betting in Germany can only be applied for by applicants based in a member state of the European Union or in a state party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.