A recent report by the Federal Ministry of Finance, as cited by the “Welt am Sonntag”, reveals a significant decline in the revenue of the federal states from digital gaming in 2024. According to the report, the revenue from digital slot machines alone decreased by 51 million euros, reaching 213 million euros. Online poker, which saw a four-million-euro increase to 35 million euros and sports betting, which rose by 14 million euros to 423 million euros, only saw a slight growth. The overall tax revenue of the federal states from gaming remained constant at 2.5 billion euros, thanks to an increase in lottery sales.
Industry experts attribute the moderate increase in sports betting revenue to the heightened betting activity during the European Football Championship. Without this, the revenue would have likely decreased as well. The federal states had already seen a significant decline in digital gaming revenue in 2023, with industry associations attributing the decline to the growing market share of illegal providers. The German Sports Betting Association estimates this share at 30 to 40 percent, while the German Online Casino Association puts it as high as 75 percent.