In the first half of 2024, the German casinos represented in the industry association DSbV achieved revenues of €345.4m, an increase of almost 4.3 per cent compared to last year.
The positive result of the DSBV casinos contributed roughly half of the total German casino revenue, which recorded a total increase of 4.1 per cent in the first half of 2024. Together with the other state-licensed but privately managed casinos, the industry achieved a half-year result of €664.84m.
Kerstin Kosanke, President of the DSbV, said: “This means that we have already slightly exceeded more than half of the entire annual result for 2023, although the high-turnover winter months, Christmas and New Year’s Eve are still missing.”
The number of visitors also rose by about eight per cent from 1,670,828 to 1,806,895.
“We are pleased that the positive trend continues – despite the competition to sports betting in the year of the European Championship. It is also a good signal that the classic game in the DSbV casinos not only remained stable, but was also able to slightly increase its share of 16 percent of the total BSE,” added Ms Kosanke. Nevertheless, licensed gambling must face digitization – also in view of the black market. “If, for example, the Bavarian casinos are the only legal provider in Bavaria to enable online casino games, this will take place within the framework of the 2021 Interstate Treaty on Gambling. The legislator has opened up the possibility for the states to offer such game formats on the Internet. Licensed casinos can thus use their good reputation and know-how, for example in player protection, to reach online-savvy interested parties and not send them to illegal platforms. A hybrid casino covers both the digital and traditional terrestrial sectors. It offers gambling in the middle of society – analogue and digital.”
The casinos in Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Brandenburg, Bremen, Saxony, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia are organised in the DSbV. The state-licensed casinos in North Rhine-Westphalia are part of the Merkur Group.