German Regulator Bans Two Online Casinos From Advertising On TV

Landesmedienanstalt Saarland (LMS), a gambling regulator in the German state of Saarland has banned two online gambling operators licensed in Schleswig-Holstein from advertising their services in Saarland. However, the sanctioned operators were not identified.

Gambling in the state of Schleswig-Holstein

In 2012, the state of Schleswig-Holstein authorized several online gambling operators, both domestic and foreign, with licenses for online casinos, poker, and sports betting. The remaining 15 German states agreed to adopt a federal plan that only allows online sports betting.

At that moment, a series of legal disputes emerged concerning the right of players from other states to play at Schleswig-Holstein online casinos.

In 2019, Schleswig-Holstein renewed its online casino licenses, and LMS said the state had “guaranteed advertising limitation” for online casinos. However, “in practice, from the LMS point of view, this limitation is no longer noticeable.”

The German Regulator claims that advertisements for online casino operators are operators in “too large a number of private television programs”, including times when young people “are especially vulnerable.” Consequently, LMS director Ruth Meyer pointed out that the agency had to step in.

There were other occasions when the Regulator had to intervene, such as the time when former LMS director Uwe Conradt complained about the operation of Schleswig-Holstein online casinos, as well. The former official said the gambling sites had “jeopardized” the fight against problem gambling in Germany.

Schleswig-Holstein officials assured LMS of solitary broadcasting online casino ads on regional television, not national channels.

At the beginning of the year, the 16 German states agreed to a new federal treaty after multiple debates. The new treaty will allow the aggregation of various products online, but with a series of restrictions for sports betting and slot machines.