German trade body signals alarm over black market operations

The German Online Casino Association (DOCV) has issued a new warning over the state of the black market in the country. The recently re-regulated market still poses challenges to legitimate operators, boosting the black market in the process, the association has claimed during a confab hosted by DOCV on July 11.

The black market in Germany is still a serious threat

The black market in the country has been a contentious topic for industry observers and insiders. With Germany recently re-regulating its gambling landscape, it has made it possible for many new companies – including online casinos and iGaming studios – to enter and secure a toehold.

Yet, the DOCV is not entirely sure that these regulated entities have been offered a fair playing field. Speaking to attendees a few weeks ago, DOCV VP Simon Priglinger-Simader and Michelle Hembury, an attorney at Melchers, a law firm, outlined the challenges that the regulated sector faced.

The event was moderated by von Beust & Coll, a consultancy, and its representative, Philipp Bauer. The gathering took a closer look at a recent study published by the Joint Gambling Authority of the States (GGL), which was originally introduced in 2023, and has been broadly discussed since June.

DOCV and the stakeholders that gathered earlier that month criticized some of the corollaries of the interim report, arguing that the regulator’s claim that the black market constituted only 6% of the entire gambling market was dead wrong.

Instead, DOCV has argued that the actual numbers are much higher to make channelization into the regulated gambling market unsustainable for businesses, as they face lingering regulatory hurdles that make bringing products to markets a pain. In a detailed report on the German gambling market, we found similarly alarming figures.

The real scale of offshore operations is still unknown

According to a study by the University of Leipzig, at least half of all German players prefer to play on unlicensed platforms. In the meantime, Yield Sec, an AI and tech firm, quoted similar numbers for the offshore market, posting the percentage of black market operations at 47%.

It’s not yet impossible for the GGL to correct these numbers. A more recent study, commissioned by the regulator in December 2023, should be published soon, possibly correcting the real scale of the offshore gambling market.

In the meantime, a black market in France has already supposedly taken over the regulated market, according to a local industry group.

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