US daily fantasy sports site DraftKings officially went live with a beta version in Germany on Thursday. Earlier this year, DraftKings announced it would be going live in Germany during Q1, thanks to a new skill-games license acquired in Malta. (Fantasy soccer site Oulala is the only other company known to have acquired this license.) The full suite of DraftKings fantasy contests will be available to the German population… “Germany is known for its passionate sports fans and we are pleased to welcome them to daily fantasy sports,” DraftKings Chief International Officer Jeffrey Haas said in a press release upon…

Daily fantasy sports site DraftKings is heading to Germany. That’s thanks to a new gaming license the company acquired from the Malta Gaming Authority. The international expansion will occur sometime during Q1, Jeffrey Haas, chief international officer for DraftKings, told Legal Sports Report. It marks the first expansion of DraftKings’ footprint since DraftKings UK went live about a year ago. The core news is that DraftKings announced it had acquired a “Controlled Skill Games License” from the MGA. That is a new type of gaming license — apart from gambling licensing — that specifically looked to account for DFS. Acquiring…

It is no secret that as Europe’s most populous and affluent country, Germany also happens to be the continent’s biggest gambling market and in 2013 the nation of 80 million people generated $3.7 billion (€2.7 billion euro) in revenues, up by 5% compared to the previous year. In order to organize a framework for its burgeoning gambling industry, Germany introduced its Interstate Treaty on Gambling in 2012, but the piece of legislation has since drawn criticism from the EU, especially as it forbids all types of internet gambling with the exception of sports betting. One of Germany’s 16 states, however,…

International Game Technology (IGT), the new company formed by the recent merger of GTECH and Legacy IGT, is to provide technology for the new Niedersachsen Jackpot Wide Area Progressive (WAP) at Spielbanken Niedersachsen casinos in Germany. Under the agreement, which will feature 56 machines across 10 properties, IGT will work alongside Spielbanken Niedersachsen to provide the operator with tailor-made solutions for their players. IGT will brand games so that they harmonise with Spielbanken Niedersachsen’s own corporate identity, in addition to developing a new mathematic formula to fit in with the operator’s specific requirements. Once complete, customers will have access to…

Gambling 911 – Not the best timing as the FIFA World Cup is set to begin this week but BetFred.com customers from variously countries across the globe were advised this weekend they can no longer bet online with the company. BetFred.com has opted to pull out of the German and Canadian markets as well as a host of other countries including the Ukraine. An email sent out to these customers advised that they have 30 days to withdraw any funds they have on the site.  The new policy applies to both new and existing customers. BetFred.com was encouraging affected customers…

Blackjack Champ – If some of the EU member states were casino games, who’d get to be blackjack and who’d be a slot machine? Gambling is enjoyed for the most part throughout the entire EU, with only minor restrictions applying in certain member states. Recently, there has been the suggestion that new legislation and regulations could come into place in the very near future, which will provide a ‘blanket’ set of rules on the matter for all countries. This would be beneficial to providers of internet and mobile casinos, which have been subjected to the most restrictions; such as not…