InterGaming: Searching for harmony

The regulatory landscape is changing in Germany. Simon Liddle finds out just how complicated the situation is as casino operators look to boost revenues

GERMANY is home to some of Europe’s oldest and most prestigious casinos, yet in recent years the seemingly unrestricted growth of the country’s street market appears to have stripped them of large swathes of customers.

Gross gaming revenues at the country’s 80 casinos have fallen by an average of 40 per cent over the last four years. Germany’s licensed casinos operate around 8,000 slot machines, compared with the 230,000 located in arcades and bars. Although the blame cannot be laid solely at the door of the street market, the facts suggest such overwhelming competition is taking its toll. Throw a smoking ban, online gaming – a service presently illegal for land-based operators to provide – and a complicated system of regulation into the mix and it becomes easy to see why many in the industry feel they are being placed at a disadvantage.

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