Why Germany’s State-Level Politics Still Influence Gambling Regulation

While Germany has a unified gambling system, its political powers are divided among 16 federal states. The federal state governments regulate how political and gambling laws are carried out on a regional level. Germany’s Gambling Authority stated that the legal and regulated gambling system gained over €13 billion in gross gaming revenue in 2024. This article examines how gambling regulations, policies, and laws are distributed in Germany and how the federal system, political interests, and economic factors collaborate.

Germany has gambling policies and laws that look uniform on the surface; there are variations when it comes to how these laws are implemented and carried out. This system requires coordination from all federal member states, and in all these federal member states, the member state governments hold political powers leading to gambling. 

This division of power leads to the regulation of gambling laws in a system of negotiation rather than through a central command. With that, variations among jurisdictions around the same legal structure are present. With that, it is imperative to analyze how (and where) state politics functions and the results it garners.

A Federal System with Real Power at the Top

Germany's federal system endows its 16 states with political and policy-making authority. There is a degree of central coordination due to the federal states’ joint agreements, but one or multiple states can exercise significant power in the determination of how regulations are applied. The federal system's essence lies in the absence of central authority in legislation; the system is almost entirely based on consensus.

Player licensing and incentives demonstrate added complexity. A no deposit bonus 2026 offer illustrates how promotional offers become confined in their structure due to regulations. Users can bypass an initial deposit to access online casino sites with these bonuses, but there’s a plethora of restrictions. Other offers may require customers to look through promotional reviews to find details of the applicable wagering requirements, withdrawal limits, and identity verification. These stipulations correspond with Germany’s regulations, but the implementation of such stipulations can be different based on the individual authority of the German constitutive states, aka the Bundesländer.

Enacted in 2021, the Interstate Treaty on Gambling aimed to harmonize online gambling across Germany. However, there’s still an inconsistency in how states carry out the treaty during implementations. As of 2025, Germany’s Joint Gambling Authority reported that over 30 operators were licensed under the current regime. At the same time, there still remains an arbitrary and inconsistent response from states regarding illegal, unlicensed operators. The difference in response among states shows that the more important a certain issue is at the regional level, the more likely there will be enforcement action taken.

The Interstate Treaty as a Compromise Tool

The Interstate Treaty is the basis of German gambling regulation; however, its provisions are not legally binding. Each federal state has jurisdiction, and judicial review of the Interstate Treaty is highly political. Each federal state has the authority to approve, modify, and amend its provisions.

The legal amendments made in 2021 aimed to shape a new direction for the legalized and regulated market for online slots and online poker in Germany. It also created a player deposit immovable of €1,000 per calendar month and included advertising restrictions. The University of Hohenheim published a study in 2024 stating that since the implementation of the new regulation, licensed online gaming operators in Germany have experienced a growth of 60% of their customer base to online gaming subscribers in Germany, which has grown from 40% of the subscribers from the previous level of legalized and regulated online gambling in Germany.

The new restrictions have also not raised new concerns. The Federal States have expressed concerns where some conceive that advertising restrictions should be further controlled and the level of player protection should be more stringent, while others advocate for the ‘competitive market’ approach. This is one of the reasons the Federal State Agreements are of a limited incremental nature in their legal adoption and reform, rather than being wide-ranging in their approach. 

Diverging Political Priorities Across States

A major determining factor in the political interests of the Federal States is the treatment and application of gambling regulations. Public opinion is the main factor influencing the Federal State, in which the gambling policies are defined by the local political and legal framework. Regional differences are characterized by more or less active and more or less controlled, fully or partially implemented policies.

For example, Bavaria's approach and attitude towards player protection and advertising restrictions are more historical. Schleswig-Holstein's approach and attitude towards advertising and online gambling legislation (as ventilation and extended framework legislation) are more libertarian and not more restricted. These differences still exist and are still the main focus of the discussion in the regional control agreements.

Other regional differences are directly related to public opinion and social acceptance. A Statista survey published in 2025 reported that approximately 54% of respondents were in favor of more restrictions on gambling from a national perspective in Germany, while regionally, public opinion is more or less favorable. The State governing bodies are more active in the jurisdictions where public opinions are more developed and expressed, and as a result, they are more restrictive during the treaty negotiations.