Austrian gaming firm Betkick Sportwettenservice, a part of Stoiximan, and Malta-licensed Betago have recently been granted German federal sports betting permits.
Betkick is now legally authorized to provide betting services through the Betano.de website. The company was initially established in Austria and was purchased by Kaizen Gaming in July 2018, followed by Stoiximan.
Meanwhile, Betago has obtained both physical and online licenses for the German market.
The licenses granted to both companies bring the total number of brands authorized to offer sports betting services in Germany to 23 since the initial licenses were issued in October 2020.
However, the number of approvals lags significantly behind the number of applications. Last February, the Darmstadt Regional Council, responsible for issuing licenses, reported receiving 30 applications, with an additional 20 operators expressing interest in applying.
This followed a legal challenge filed by Austrian betting company Vierklee against the licensing process a month earlier, alleging unfairness and lack of transparency, leading to a temporary suspension of the licensing process.
Vierklee subsequently withdrew its legal challenge.
Of the twenty-three permits issued, twenty-two are for internet wagering. The state-run lottery enterprise Oddset is the lone entity that did not seek an online gambling permit.
Ten other firms, including the prominent Austrian company Novomatic and Germany’s Gauselmann Group, were granted licenses to operate in physical locations alongside Oddset.
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