Many people had expected to find a clear statement on the situation in Germany in this issue of Internet Gambling Report, at least as far as the sports betting market is concerned, but nothing more can be stated other than the market continues to be in the process of change.
In 2006 the Federal Constitutional Court781 (BVerfG) held that the state monopoly, in its previous practice, violated German constitutional law, but the judges from Karlsruhe left to the legislator’s discretion the decision of whether to liberalize the market or maintain the monopoly, subject to considerably tightened limitations to advertising and marketing for ODDSET, the state-run provider. Further, the BVerfG gave the German states one year until the State LotteryTreaty should be replaced by a new regulation. The court explicitly did not consider the question of a violation of European law.