The boss of bwin today said there “will be potentially 80 lawsuits” filed by companies which are refused federal sports betting licences under Germany’s Interstate Treaty on Gambling.
bwin.party boss Norbert Teufelberger said this morning that he expected bwin to receive one of the 20 federal sports betting licences, which he said could be issued as early as May, “but it also means that that they will not issue 80 because there are 100 applications in front of them. So there will be potentially 80 lawsuits filed against the E15 system, from those who do not get the licence.”
Teufelberger added that he believed certain provisions within the bill would also be challenged, particularly the current proposal under the E15 that restricts customers to betting a maximum of €1000 a month.
“If that was implemented, that would really make it impossible to have a decent business there anymore”, said the bwin.party chief, who said he believed that legal challenges against the framework would be heard “most likely before the European Court of Justice”, and that “until that date, there will be standstill.”
The boss of Germany’s largest online sports betting operation also said he believed Germany’s 16 federal states or Lander could also change their attitude to legalising online casino and poker once they realised how much sports betting tax was now being collected at a rate of 5% of turnover.
“On a full-year basis, we will pay in the region of about €40m, just ourselves. I think they are generating in the region of €160m, €170m, maybe €200m if you take all the offline players. That money, as far as we know, has not yet been distributed to the Lander. Once they see how much is coming there, you could obviously assume how much would be coming if they also legalised and regulated casino and poker. So there is still hope.”
Teufelberger was also determinedly bullish about the currently complex legal situation in Germany playing out in the company’s favour.
“We continue to operate in Germany, with sports taxed, and potentially fully regulated. We have a very good argument with the Schleswig-Holstein licence to continue operating casino and poker until full regulation. So if you ask me what will happen next year? I think status quo.”
bwin.party this morning posted a 2% fall in pro-forma revenue to €801.6m, with profit (EBITDA) down 17% to €169.4m due to the flat revenue and increased gaming taxes, most notably in its largest market of Germany, which generated 23% of its revenues last year. A 17% decline in poker also offset solid performances in sports, casino and games.
Teufelberger admitted the group formed of the 2011 merger between bwin and PartyGaming had “been held back in the last 18 months by ongoing integration efforts”, but said the new platform would be at “full power” by the end of 2013 and that the company had already implemented a move from “volume to value” in its dot.com markets, pulling back on acquisition marketing spend and providing a tailored service to valued punters.
Article written by Stephen Carter
