Another Appeal to Open Up German Gambling Market

Football league joins the initiative The German state monopoly over gambling has apparently earned another opponent in shape of Germany's football league, which this week requested a more open market, threatening to charge betting companies for use of the Bundesliga fixture list, unless regional states open up the sports betting market to more competition. According to the DFL soccer league manager Christian Seifert, “The fixture list of 612 matches played in the top two tiers each season is a unique database and should be protected by intellectual property rights. Professional sports and amateur sports have to get their share of the income, if necessary by charging others for using Bundesliga fixture lists.” It was reported by Reuters recently that Germany's 16 states are actually considering the award of seven nationwide licenses for sports betting companies from next year, requiring the licensees to pay one-sixth of the betting income to the states as fees. However, these plans have received sharp criticism from independent online gambling companies, such as Bwin.party digital which assessed the states' plans as anti-competitive.