ZEAL CEO urges Germany to update regulations in channelisation push
Helmut Becker calls for market to be more attractive to legal operators and reintroduce IP blocking to prevent black-market leakage
ZEAL Network CEO Helmut Becker called on Germany to revise its regulations in order to boost the country’s channelisation rate.
A study by the German Online Casino Association and the German Sports Betting Association, released last November, found that channelisation was as low 50.7% in March 2023 in Europe’s largest economy.
GGL released a statement saying that it estimated 800-900 illegal websites generated total revenue of €300m-€500m (£256m-£427m) in 2023, with those figures having declined since 2022.
The regulator has pegged the black market at the size of between 2% and 4% of the regulated sector.
Speaking to EGR following the release of the firm’s 2023 financial results, Becker said while positive steps have been taken to increase channelisation, more must be done such as IP blocking.
In March 2023, the Higher Administrative Court of Rhineland-Palatinate found the GGL’s blocking order against Lottoland was unlawful, arguing there was no legal basis for blocking the internet sites of a foreign gambling provider.
Becker said: “Germany has taken positive steps towards regulating the market and closing in on the black market. We support that. We want to work on the basis of a fair and good regulation that is also properly policed.
“There are concerning numbers. There was a study recently done by the German Online Casino Association and the German Sports Betting Association who found that there is still an estimated 50% of the market going through illegal offerings.
“We hope that the German legislator will take what they learnt from the past few years and revise the regulation.
“We hope that they will take more steps to close in on these illegal offerings, like IP blocking, and at the same time they have to make the environment for legal operators, like us, attractive enough.”
Becker also praised the regulator GGL for being thorough in its process of approving online games with ZEAL having launched online gaming in 2023.
Through its Lotto24 subsidiary, ZEAL achieved billings of €41.6m in H2 and revenue of €3m, with the operator hosting 50 online games, mostly consisting of slot and easy spin games.
Though Becker added that the GGL can be slow at approving games, he was positive that the firm’s portfolio could continue growing and bring in a “broader group of customers”.
“The regulator so far has been very thorough, but also slow in approving games,” he said. “They have mostly focused on approving the same type of games because they have a big backlog on games. For them, the most efficient thing to do is to approve the same kind of games.
“That means that our portfolio is right now targeted to a very specific user. We’re looking forward to launching further games that create a broader portfolio and can address a broader group of customers.
“We depend on the approval and the speed of approval by the German regulator. But mid-term, we are very positive that we can grow the portfolio and therefore also grow the business beyond the target segment that we have today and in the types of games we have.”