GGL Calls for Flexible German Gambling Regulation After Five Years of Operation
After five years the GGL seeks more flexible rules under the 2021 State Treaty on Gambling because online market changes outpace legislative updates. Enforcement has scaled sharply with prohibition proceedings rising from 68 in 2022 to 287 in 2025 and 77% regulated market share in 2024. The authority now holds the infrastructure to supervise a digital market of 5.3 million players.
SCCG Take — Licensed operators face potential relief from rigid processes if the treaty review grants the GGL greater discretion. Regulators elsewhere should note how five years of hands-on supervision can sharpen arguments for adaptive rules without weakening enforcement.
Germany’s Joint Gambling Authority of the Federal States (GGL) is calling for greater flexibility in gambling regulation as it marks five years since its establishment. The regulator says online gambling is changing faster than the country’s state-treaty framework can be amended, as reported by Casino News Daily.
Ronald Benter, a member of the GGL’s executive board, said: “Five years ago, there was a political mandate. Today, there is a fully operational, nationwide specialised authority. We had to recruit staff, build structures and expertise, and simultaneously shape a completely new area of regulatory oversight in practice. Today, we possess the experience, specialist knowledge, and technical capabilities to effectively supervise a highly digitised online gambling market with an international character. This marks the starting point for the next stage of development.”
The GGL now has around 100 employees. It oversees 129 licensed operators and intermediaries. Those licences cover 229 authorised gambling websites.
Regulator Seeks Faster Adaptation to Market Shifts
The GGL wants the evaluation of Germany’s 2021 State Treaty on Gambling to examine how regulation can respond more quickly to changes in business models, technology and illegal gambling. The authority has also said it wants greater professional discretion within the existing legal framework.
In 2025 the GGL conducted more than 600 supervisory checks covering player protection, advertising and gambling product design. It has revoked two licences since beginning operations.
Enforcement Results and Regulated Market Position
Prohibition proceedings against illegal gambling climbed from 68 in 2022 to 287 in 2025. By the end of 2025 the GGL had examined approximately 6,300 websites for illegal gambling or related advertising. 1,843 illegal websites were no longer accessible from Germany following prohibitions or network blocks. Measures involving payment providers affected 178 websites, while 254 illegal providers had stopped serving the German market.
A scientific channelisation study estimated regulated offers accounted for around 77% of Germany’s online gambling market in 2024. The GGL operates LUGAS, its central technical system, with 5.3 million registered players in its databases at the end of 2025.
Future regulation should allow supervision to keep pace with market developments while maintaining player protection and enforcement against illegal activity. The treaty evaluation will test whether Germany’s framework can incorporate the operational experience the GGL has accumulated.
Reporting: Casino News Daily
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