The recurring calls by Federal Drug Commissioner Burkhard Blienert (SPD) for restrictions on sports betting advertising and a ban on sports sponsorship are meeting with opposition.

Tobias Krull (CDU), a member of the state parliament from Saxony-Anhalt, is taking a firm stand against Blienert: In a press release, Krull emphasizes that Blienert’s demands go beyond the regulations of the State Gambling Treaty and encroach on the competence of the federal states. 

Krull makes it clear that advertising legal gambling services makes an important contribution to player protection: 

“In the case of a ban on advertising for legal offers, there is a considerable risk that increased use will be made of unregulated gambling options without appropriate help and protection mechanisms. We want to ensure that people with problematic addictive behavior are quickly identified and therefore reject the demand of the Federal Government Commissioner on Narcotic Drugs.”

In addition, an advertising ban would also have a negative impact on top German sports. Last year, sports betting providers invested around 63 million euros in top German sports through their sponsorship partnerships, according to estimates by the German Sports Betting Association. A ban on sports betting advertising would jeopardize these partnerships.

Tobias Krull MdL comments on this: “The lack of advertising revenue would create a serious funding gap and thus be detrimental to the sport. We will not allow that to happen.”