Germany: 11 illegal betting sites for every legal one, says DSWV
As the Champions League kicks off, the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) has pointed out that illegal gambling websites vastly outnumber licensed operators in Germany, leaving players exposed to risks of fraud, gambling addiction and even criminal liability.
“11:1 in favour of the black market”
In a press release published on Monday, the DSWV said there are at least 382 illegal German-language sports betting websites compared with just 34 legal ones, citing an evaluation by the Joint Gambling Authority of the federal states (GGL) for 2024.
“Online, it’s 11:1 in favour of the black market and that puts players at risk,” said Mathias Dahms, president of the DSWV.
The timing of the warning is deliberate. With the Champions League underway, the second most bet-on sporting competition in Germany after the Bundesliga, the DSWV says the betting volume is “skyrocketing.” Dahms stressed that “players need to be particularly vigilant at this time of year so that they don’t accidentally end up with illegal providers. This is another reason why it is important that the legal providers are present with perimeter boards and TV advertising during the Champions League matches.”
According to Dahms, players who use legal sites benefit from “guaranteed player protection, reliable payouts and tax revenue for the common good.” In contrast, he said, “illegal providers in the black market … do not adhere to any rules, offer no security and have a higher risk of gambling addiction.”
The DSWV also reminded players that using unauthorised platforms can carry criminal consequences. “Participating in unauthorised sports betting can result in a prison sentence of up to six months or a fine,” the association said.
“It is in the common interest of regulators, providers and players to strengthen the legal market and push back the black market,” Dahms concluded. “This is the only way to ensure player protection, integrity and tax revenues.”
Making black-market gambling unprofitable
Recently, the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL), the authority which oversees cross-state gambling activity under the 2021 Interstate Gambling Treaty, has pledged to “make the business model of illegal providers and advertisers unattractive through supervisory measures.”
The GGL identified 212 unlicensed providers operating 858 gambling websites in 2024, with estimated revenues of €500–600 million. This represents about 3 to 4 percent of Germany’s overall legal gambling market, both online and land-based.
But the impact is far greater in riskier online segments. According to the GGL, unlicensed operators now account for around 25 percent of the market for so-called high-risk gambling, which includes sports betting, online poker, internet horse betting and virtual slot games.
Enforcement efforts
According to its latest annual report, the GGL pursued 231 prohibition procedures against unlawful gambling activity and advertising in 2024. “These include traditional administrative procedures with prohibition orders, which can be enforced through penalty payments. Measures such as payment blocking and network blocking are also used,” the regulator said.
The watchdog reported that 188 illegal online gambling providers had withdrawn their services from Germany during the year. Payment blocking, in particular, has proven effective: “Through payment blocking measures, 43 of the payment service providers addressed by the GGL cooperated immediately and stopped their services for the affected illegal offerings. This affected offerings from 53 illegal gambling operators or 165 websites.”
Even so, the regulator warned that some unlicensed platforms continue to display logos of major financial providers while relying in practice on lesser-known alternatives.
Cat and mouse online
Website blocking remains another enforcement tool, though the GGL admits it is an ongoing struggle. “The GGL used the Digital Services Act (DSA) actively in 2024 and was able to make numerous sites inaccessible to players in Germany,” the authority said, adding that it contacted hosting services directly to restrict 657 websites.
Still, illegal operators are adept at reappearing under new domains. When providers switched to new hosting services, “the GGL re-initiates the process with the current provider and takes appropriate measures.”
Advertising restrictions have also been tightened. In September 2024, after months of pressure, Google updated its policies. “Since 25 September 2024, only providers with a valid German license are allowed to advertise their offering in German search results via Google Ads,” the GGL confirmed. It said the change had a “clearly positive effect,” though it acknowledged continuing issues with “cloaking”, where advertisers disguise the true nature of their sites.
Public participation has played a key role. The GGL said its whistleblower system received around 8,000 reports in 2024, half relating to suspected illegal gambling. The authority was also involved in 68 court cases and filed 23 criminal complaints, though it lamented that “many German law enforcement authorities do not apply Section 284 of the Criminal Code to providers based abroad.” It has since called for an expansion of the law to better tackle foreign operators, including some based in other EU countries.
As the Champions League season kicks off, the scale of the problem remains alarming. According to the DSWV, for every legal betting website in Germany, there are eleven illegal ones, a ratio it says continues to endanger players and undermine the regulated market.
