Study: 49% of German Players Use Illegal Gambling Sites

A study on gambling habits shows that almost half of Germany’s players (49.3%) use illegal gambling sites. Leipzig University did the study for the German Online Casino Association and the German Sports Betting Association.

The study was lenient on what counts as illegal. It only considered unlicensed sites that meet all these conditions as illegal:

• No VPN needed to access them in Germany.
• German-language version available.
• German address accepted for registration.

Of the illegal sites, 28.9% are from European companies without a German license, and 19.9% are from offshore operators.

The study also found that 75% of all online gambling revenue in Germany comes from illegal sites. That means the government is losing hundreds of millions of euros every year.

The study’s authors gave these reasons for the popularity of illegal gambling sites:

• Easy access.
• More internet ads.
• Higher limits and better bonuses than legal sites.

The study’s sponsors urge the government to rethink its gambling regulation policy and make it more effective. They suggest a more flexible system for licensing and taxing gambling sites in the country.