Wacker Warns Against Over-Regulation

Are regulations too strict?

“We have to be careful that we don’t become Super Big Brother,” is Jörg Wacker’s credo about the reform of the German sports betting market. As board memberGLIed of FC Bayern Munich, Wacker is responsible for the areas of internationalization and strategy. Before moving to the German record champions, Wacker was the German boss of the Austrian bookmaker Bwin (GVC Holdings) for seven years. He is therefore also considered a sports betting expert.

“You should keep people in the legal area by making it attractive, otherwise there is a risk that they will migrate to the uncontrolled area,” warns the 52-year-old of overly drastic regulation of the sector. According to the latest plans, there will be restrictions on live betting and a deposit limit of 1,000 euros per month will also apply. To monitor the market, the opening of a Sports betting authority planned.

The regulations are due to come into force from 2021. With a view to the threat of over-regulation, Wacker asked the question of how much control is actually necessary and how much responsibility should be left to betting customers, bookmakers and clubs themselves. “The question applies to all areas of life,” says Wacker, “we don’t do anything illegal.”

Wacker considers the term “illegal” to be “inappropriate” at this point anyway; the providers are licensed in the EU. There are also laws on the basis of which operators pay taxes regularly. “So anyone who pays taxes basically cannot act illegally,” is the conclusion. In fact, the German tax authorities have been receiving increasing tax revenue from sports betting for years. These currently amount to around half a billion euros.

Brave against restrictions

Although control and player protection are important, according to Wacker, the past has shown that bans and restrictions allow a black market to thrive. It should be noted that attractive legal offers ensure that customers avoid irregular markets. In addition, it is precisely in the interest of the providers to avoid damage. Wacker is therefore skeptical about the planned regulations Picture it said:

“A deposit limit of 1,000 euros, like the ban on live betting, poses a great risk that customers will migrate to the black market, where they can bet higher amounts.”

According to Wacker, a regulated market is fundamentally something “very positive”; the uncertainty about the legal situation is not beneficial for providers or consumers. Nevertheless, greater consideration of “market conditions” is important. This particularly applies to the planned ban on live betting. These are the most popular among betting customers, generating around 60 percent of total sales. Wacker explained:

"If we talk about live betting: It is highly attractive, people enjoy betting on certain events during the game. I ask myself: why should live betting be restricted, why not leave it exactly as it is before?"

Advantages through betting sponsorship

Recently, several Bundesliga clubs, including Borussia Dortmund and 1. FC Köln, came under criticism for betting sponsorship. Wacker took advantage of the current debate and drew attention to the advantages of betting partnerships in sports. He used the partnership between FC Bayern and Tipico (Malta) as an example. The German record champions and the German betting market leader have been going hand in hand since 2015.

Since sports betting is now “socially acceptable worldwide”, this partnership is a “win-win situation” for all parties. In addition, Wacker explained that FC Bayern generally works “very consciously with the best company”. The protection of sporting competition has the highest priority, which is why we are committed to reputable providers on the market.

In this context, Wacker also referred to the use of self-exclusion systems, which could be stated: “He plays way too much!” He also referred to monitoring systems that protect the integrity of the sport and prevent betting manipulation. Here Wacker mentioned the Swiss data protection company Sportradar. To achieve this, the state must “work closely with the providers”.

Support from DSWV

The DSWV supports Wacker and is currently also calling for an increase in the attractiveness of the legal offer. For this purpose, “improvements” are needed German gambling laws n necessary. The suggestions for improvement also relate to the ban on live betting. In addition, the planned regulatory authority must be able to adapt flexibly and dynamically to the modern market. DSWV President Mathias Dahms explained:

“A rigid set of rules that cannot be changed in the next few years neither helps player protection nor will it lead to the suppression of the black market that will still exist in the future.”

Just at the beginning of the month, the DSWV announced a sales record on the German sports betting market. The figures come from the Federal Ministry of Finance. German betting customers placed bets worth a total of 9.3 billion euros in 2019, an increase of 21 percent compared to the previous year. The state collected taxes of over 500 million euros. The developments remain to be seen.

Wacker warns against overregulation