Bwin in court setback
Austrian online gaming giant and part online bingo operator Bwin seems to have lost the first round of a challenge against recently created German Internet gambling bans.
The company has failed in a bid to have the German Federal Court of Justice overturn a ruling barring it from offering sport bets and casino games in the country. The news sparked an 8% drop in Bwin shares.
Bwin requested in a motion at the Federal Court of Justice that they suspend proceedings on enforcing the ban until a final ruling has been made on the merits. Unfortunately for Bwin, the court rejected the motion on 14 March on procedural grounds.
Online bingo is not a big market in Germany with the amount of people who play online bingo games is small by UK standards. However, the ongoing action by Bwin represents an attempt to ensure that Germany does not create a state-protected gambling monopoly that would restrict non-German online bingo halls from operating in the country.
