Amendments to the Online Casino Gambling Act in North Rhine-Westphalia: current legislative developments and economic opportunities for gambling providers

When the Interstate Treaty on a New Regulatory Framework for Gambling in Germany (GlüStV 2021) (the “2021 Treaty”) came into force on 1 July 2021, the German federal states were given the opportunity to authorise online casino games within their territories for the first time. Half of the states have since taken advantage of this; North Rhine-Westphalia was one of the first to enact a corresponding law in 2022 in the form of the North Rhine-Westphalian Online Casino Gambling Act (in German only) (OCG NRW) (the “NRW Online Gambling Act”), which took effect on 9 March 2022. Now, the North Rhine-Westphalian state government has introduced a German draft bill in the state parliament aimed at amending the NRW Online Casino Gaming Act, which will have special implications for live streaming of dealer-led games from land-based (physical) casinos. In this Noerr Insight, we outline the legal basis for online casino gambling regulation in the 2021 Treaty (see A.), analyse the current state of online casino gambling legislation in the individual German states (see B.) focusing especially on the planned legislative changes in North Rhine-Westphalia (see C.) and, finally, highlight promising areas of opportunity for companies (see D.).

A. Legal basis for regulating online casino gambling in the 2021 Treaty

Online casino games are legally defined in Article 3(1a) of the 2021 Treaty as virtual simulations of dealer-based games and live broadcasts of a dealer-based game conducted on-site, with the option to participate over the internet.

The basis for state-specific regulations is found in Article 22c of the 2021 Treaty. According to this provision, the states may authorise the operation of online casino games within their territory on a statutory basis. To this end, the states have two regulatory options available to them: they can either organise online casino games themselves through a legal entity governed by public law or through a private company in which public entities hold a direct or indirect controlling interest (the “monopoly model”), or they can grant one licence under Article 22c(1)(2) of the 2021 Treaty or as many licenses for operating online casino games as could have been granted for land-based casinos within the meaning of Article 20 of the 2021 Treaty under the casino law of the state concerned as of 17 January 2020 (the “licensing model”).

B. Status of online casino gambling legislation in the German states

The status of implementation at state level presents a mixed picture. While Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Hesse, Saxony and Thuringia have opted for the monopoly model described in Article 22c(1)(1) of the 2021 Treaty, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein are implementing the licensing model described in Article 22c(1)(2). In the remaining eight states, no efforts to implement the legislation have been evident up to now.

I. States with the monopoly model

The majority of the states that have taken action up to now have implemented the monopoly model and thus decided against opening up the online casino market to private operators. How exactly the model is implemented varies from state to state:

In Baden-Württemberg, which was the last state to adopt the monopoly model for the time being, the state organises online casino games as specified in Article 22c of the 2021 Treaty pursuant to section 9(2)(3) of the Baden-Württemburg State Gambling Act (LGlüG BW) (the “Baden-Württemburg State Gambling Act”). It is able to operate these games itself through a legal entity governed by public law or a private company in which public entities hold a direct or indirect controlling interest in accordance with section 9(5) of the Baden-Württemburg State Gambling Act. Audiovisual or purely visual broadcasting of casino games from a casino or another location within or outside the state is also permitted.

In Brandenburg, section 3(1) of the Brandenburg Casino Act allows the state to perform the public task of organising online casino games through a legal entity governed by public law or a private company in which the State of Brandenburg holds a direct or indirect controlling interest. There are no rules and regulations governing the broadcasting of casino games from a casino in this context.

The rules in Saxony and Thuringia are even more explicit. In Saxony, section 19(1) of the Saxon Casino Act states that licences may only be granted to the Free State of Saxony, a legal entity governed by public law or a private company in which the Free State of Saxony holds an exclusive interest, or to another state, a legal entity governed by public law or a private company in which in addition to the Free State of Saxony one or more other states or other public entities hold an exclusive interest. In Thuringia, the licence may even be granted only to the state itself, which may then utilise legal entities under private or public law to operate casinos, provided that the state wholly owns the shares in such entities or holds an exclusive interest in them (see section 2(2) of the Thuringian Act on Casinos and Online Casinos).

The Free State of Bavaria implements the monopoly model through the State Lottery and Casino Administration (Staatliche Lotterie- und Spielbankverwaltung), which under Article 1(3), first sentence of the Bavarian Act Implementing the State Gambling Treaty in Germany (AGGlüStV) (the “Bavarian Implementing Act”), also organises online casino games. Article 5(1) of the Bavarian Implementing Act states that the State Lottery and Casino Administration is a state agency without legal personality operating under the jurisdiction of the Bavarian State Ministry of Finance and Home Affairs.

Hesse has chosen a different approach: section 3(2) of the Hessian Act on Casinos and Online Casino Games states that a licence to operate online casino games may only be granted to a private-sector company in which at least two local authorities operating casinos hold a controlling interest.

II. States with a licensing model

Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia have opted for the licensing model when regulating online casino games; however, their technical implementation differs significantly, meaning that the legal framework sets different parameters that must be taken into account in a business context.

In Schleswig-Holstein, the licences for online casino games were issued in accordance with section 17(1) of the Act of the State of Schleswig-Holstein Implementing the Interstate Treaty on a New Regulatory Framework for Gambling in Germany (GlüStV 2021 AG SH) (the “Schleswig-Holstein Implementing Act”) in the form of authorisation notices to a licence holder as set down in section 3(2) of the State of Schleswig-Holstein Casino Act and to up to four applicants through a transparent and non-discriminatory administrative procedure. The licence does not impose an obligation to operate in accordance with section 17(3) of the Schleswig-Holstein Implementing Act. The licensing authority is, however, entitled to ensure an adequate supply of online casino games until the licences are revoked and/or until new licences are granted. Although the Schleswig-Holstein Implementing Act also refers to licences, or “concessions” (Konzessionen), the subject matter of the administrative procedure is neither a contract under section 103 of the German Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB) (the “Competition Act”) nor a service concession under its section 105(1)(2). Instead, it is a regulatory administrative proceeding in which the regional Ministry of the Interior, Municipal Affairs, Housing and Sports is responsible for making a non-discriminatory selection based on established criteria. One of the prerequisites for granting a licence is that the applicant possesses the necessary reliability, expertise and capacity. After the ministry announced the administrative procedure in 2022, on 18 September 2024 licences (in German only) were granted to four gambling providers for offering and operating online casino games in Schleswig-Holstein.

C. Implementation of the licensing model in North Rhine-Westphalia

In North Rhine-Westphalia, unlike the model in Schleswig-Holstein up to five online casino game licences, or “concessions”, are not to be granted through a standard administrative procedure, but under section 6(1) of the NRW Online Gambling Act by awarding the contract through a procurement procedure in accordance with Part Four of the Competition Act and the Concession Award Regulation (Konzessionsvergabeordnung), in other words in accordance with the antitrust rules governing procurement. The legislature’s intention is that the contract will be awarded to those bidders whose bid best fulfils the objectives of Article 1, first sentence of the 2021 Treaty based on the specified criteria for the intended term of the licence and results in an overall economic benefit. However, this is merely a general policy recommendation, since the state legislature is not authorised to establish its own award criteria in the areas of antitrust-related procurement law exceeding a certain threshold.

Section 37(2) of the NRW Online Gambling Act contains a series of regulatory authorisations on the basis of which the regional Ministry of the Interior (which is responsible for supervising gambling), can uniformly regulate the specific requirements by ordinance instead of the numerous ancillary provisions customary for other gambling licences. The current draft bill to amend the NRW Online Gambling Act expands this regulatory authority to include requirements regarding the reliability of personnel employed to implement and operate the licence, for example.

Other changes relate to the licensing of service providers as well as live broadcasts from service providers’ premises. To this end, a new section 15a is to be inserted into the Act which, on the one hand, regulates the legal treatment of service providers, including imposing an authorisation requirement on them and, on the other, clarifies their relationships with the licence holder. Of particular note in this regard is the proposed section 15a(4) of the new Act, which is intended to stipulate that the obligations and requirements of the 2021 Interstate Treaty on Gambling, the NRW Online Gambling Act and the associated statutory regulations and ordinances continue to apply to the licence holder and cannot be transferred by the licence holder to the service provider. Finally, new provisions are also intended to address the possibility of obtaining authorisation for multiple licensees to use the service provider’s premises, provided the premises are suitable for this purpose (as is already possible in other countries such as the Netherlands). Firstly, this is intended to take into account that live broadcasting from other locations requires enormous financial and human resources, indicating that the involvement of specialised service providers is an economically viable option (see Explanatory Memorandum, from p. 28). Secondly, a significant reduction in the supervision required by the competent authority is expected, as the number of locations to be monitored is likely to decrease due to shared use. This adjustment, which should be understood as a response to actual economic challenges, is to be welcomed. In line with the fundamental principle of the 2021 Treaty, the legislature also emphasises that the desired channelling effect can only be achieved if legal providers are able to ensure a sufficient supply of services, even when taking real market conditions into account (see Explanatory Memorandum, p. 29).

D. Assessment and outlook

The diversity of the approaches to implementation taken by the German states in regulating online casino games leads to a need to examine the procedural aspects more closely from a business perspective. For instance, it makes a significant difference (in terms of participating in the proceedings and any potentially necessary application for legal protection) whether licences are granted through an administrative procedure under regulatory law or through a formal procurement procedure under the Competition Act.

Now that the administrative procedure in Schleswig-Holstein was completed in 2024, the market for online casino games in North Rhine-Westphalia (which was essentially opened up by the NRW Online Gambling Act) is likely to be most interesting to companies at this time, not least in light of the relatively long licence term of up to 15 years. Although the above Act entered into force as early as 2022, the procurement process for granting online casino gambling concessions has not begun yet, probably due to the careful and thoughtful preparation of the process by the responsible Ministry of the Interior.

The bill to amend the NRW Online Gambling Act is currently going through the legislative process. Following the first reading in the plenary session of the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament in May 2026, the Committee on the Interior issued a recommendation on 10 July 2026 (taking into account an amendment proposed by the governing parties) to adopt the bill. Compared to the original version, the bill was amended only to the extent that the provisions governing the granting of a licence under section 15a of the NRW Online Gambling Act (as amended) now apply not only to current illegal gambling operations but also take past activities into account. This means that an authorisation to provide services under this provision cannot be granted to anyone who has previously been involved in unauthorised gambling. Furthermore, service providers’ access to players’ IP addresses and a uniquely assigned identifier has been further restricted to cases where this is technically essential. Given these relatively minor changes, it is expected that the legislative process will be concluded shortly.

The draft bill to amend the NRW Online Gambling Act makes it very clear that the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia is actively pursuing the licensing of online casino games and the organisation of these forms of online gambling by private providers. In particular, the proposed amendments demonstrate that the industry’s needs for economically viable implementation are being addressed and that above all the bureaucratic hurdles are to be removed. This applies especially to the changes outlined regarding service providers.

It is expected that the licensing process in North Rhine-Westphalia based on the amended NRW Online Gambling Act will be initiated shortly after the legislative process to amend the Act is completed and that up to five service licences will be put out to tender. The service licences to be awarded in this manner are likely (unlike a simple regulatory permit) to also include an obligation to operate. This is because section 105(1)(2) of the Competition Act states that a service concession is not a permit but a contract for consideration under which the licensor entrusts a company with the provision and management of services, with the consideration consisting of the right to exploit the service or of this right plus a payment. The licensee is then obliged to actually exercise the licence, that is to actually offer online casino games within the scope permitted by the licence.

Interested gambling providers seeking to enter the online casino games market and offering relevant products will benefit from early and comprehensive legal advice that pays particular attention to the public procurement specifics of the regulatory framework in North Rhine-Westphalia and makes full use of the rights of applicants and bidders in a procurement procedure for the award of online casino gambling licences in North Rhine-Westphalia. As such, applicants should already be strategically preparing at this early stage for the upcoming procurement procedure to be carried out by the Ministry of the Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, as the responsible body. This involves not only public procurement law issues (such as the precise application of the mechanism for involving partners who meet certain eligibility criteria, the use of subcontractors and the formation of a consortium of applicants), but also requires a focused approach to corporate law.

Looking ahead, further market entry opportunities are expected in other states, particularly in those that are currently still hesitant to implement online casino gambling regulations in accordance with Article 22c of the 2021 Treaty and are waiting to see how states such as North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein that have opted to open up their markets by using the licensing model fare.

In addition to the question frequently discussed in legal literature – namely, whether the interstate treaty provision in Article 22c(1) of the 2021 Treaty not only opens up a regulatory option for the states, but may even oblige them to authorise online casino games within their territories for reasons of consistency – generation of revenue is one of the most relevant factors from the states’ perspective. Thus the laws of states that have already begun implementing the regulations provide for a separate state tax on the gross gambling revenue generated from the operation of online casino games. In addition, charging a licensing fee could also be considered, although, as far as can be seen, no state has taken advantage of this option yet.