G3-247 Report GERMANY
below the European average, much more work has to be done to understand and combat this. Gambling addiction is one of many forms of addic- tion. Remmers stated statistics that 90 per cent of addicted players suffer from one or more forms of other addictions and that 50 per cent of gambling addicts suffer from depression.
There are said to be 190,000 gambling addicts in Germany, 90,000 of which from AWP gaming. Alcohol addiction remains the worst form of addiction in Germany with 1.8 million people addicted and a further 1.6 million people who drink too much. There are said to be 5.6 tobacco addicts in Germany and 500,000 computer game addicts. Kubicki warned not to use these figures – something bad cannot be improved by comparing it to something worse. Gambling addiction should be researched and controlled in its own right.
The changes made to the Spieleverordnung (Gaming Ordinance) in 2006 made it possible to offer much more attractive AWP gaming machines. Novomatic entered the market and changed it for good. German AWP gaming used to be controlled by the state at a federal level. Today it is part of the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag (Interstate Gambling Treaty) and thus falls under state responsibility. An industry that was used to dealing with a set number of politicians in Berlin have seen this increase 16 fold as there are 16 German states.
The continued feud between the German casino and AWP industry must be commented upon as detrimental to the industry as a whole. Instead on focusing on player choice, these two industry seg- ments define themselves as being very different and focus on their own benefits, highlighting the risks of the other segment to the public. Nevertheless, the new laws wish to ban multi- concession arcades. Such arcades have become familiar sights around Germany in the past years. A ban could decimate the industry, with a predict- ed fall in numbers of AWPs in Germany of up to 80 per cent. This doomsday scenario is set to com- mence in 2017.
The industry is standing strong together against this very real threat. Prof. Dr. Bernd Hartmann, Professor for Public Law, Business Law and Administrative Sciences, University Osnabrück,
Arcades have blossomed in the past years, but a ban could
decimate the industry, with a predicted fall in numbers of
AWPs of up to 80 per cent. This doomsday scenario is set to commence in 2017.
was the speaker on these legal issues. Prof. Hartmann shed some light on the legislative aspects: “You need a good reason to interfere with legislation. In this case, the reason is fighting gam- ing addiction.” However, due to the federalist reform all German states adopted their own legis- lation for gaming arcades, which increased confu- sion even further. “The vagaries of federalism have not brought about more clarity,” said Hartmann and added “furthermore, the German State Treaty on Games of Chance does not comply with the European concept of coherence.” Coherence was his main focus – that there cannot be one rule for one (AWP segment) and another rule for another segment.
The growth in popularity of the German AWP sec- tor was underlined. Mr. Gauselmann stated that 10 million Germans now enjoy this form of gaming (a figure that has doubled in the past eight years). Mr. Kubicki noted that ‘playing’ is a basic human need, while Mr. Gauselmann fears that the big operators will suffer the most from the oncoming legislation. The large multi-concessions indeed often belong to the major companies in the indus- try. Kubicki’s message was that the range of gam- bling available has to be controlled and not banned. Mr. Gauselmann put the amount of taxes the industry pays into perspective. The German casino industry has a turnover of approx. €500m, whereas the German AWP pays six times this amount in taxes alone to the state. His focus was on how the industry has grown despite a reduc- tion in income per player.
In his address to the IMA audience, Mr. Kubicki urged the audience to fight for their rights and stated that the German state is losing out on tax income from sports betting alone between 1 and 2 billion euros per annum due to the lack of regulation. “I do not gamble and I do not smoke. Yet if the state forbids these, then I will start to do both,” was his concluding comment.
Before the Gaming Ordinance change in 2006, average spend per machine was €22.50. Today the average is €11. Previously AWPs were forced to be slow (play time per game of 12 seconds). Players therefore often played on more than one AWP at one time. The average was 2.6 machines per player. Today, this average has dropped to 1.4 per player. Thus, the average player spend has fallen from €58.50 to €15.4.
Many more women play on AWPs in Germany today and the increase of players from approx. five million to 10 million has had a strong effect on industry turnover. Mr. Gauselmann described German AWP gaming as ‘exciting and inexpen- sive’. Mr. Kubicki urged the audience to fight for their rights and stated that the German state is losing out on tax income from sports betting alone between €1-2bn per annum due to the lack of reg- ulation. “I do not gamble and I do not smoke. Yet if
the state forbids these, then I will start to do both,” was his concluding comment.
A CONGLOMERATION OF ASSOCIATIONS The challenge of ‘speaking with one voice’ with
German politics is being attended to. The German AWP industry has a wide number of industry associations. The manufacturers are represented by the VDAI (German Industry Association for Coin-operated Amusement and Vending Machines). The distributors have their own asso- ciation – the DAGV (German Association of Coin- op Machine Distributors). And the operators have their own association as well – the BA (Federal Association of Coin-op Machine Operators). The BA has a regional office in each of the 16 states. Then there is the FORUM (for Coin-op Machine Operators in Europe). All these associations are supported by the AWI (Public Relation Organisation for the Coin-op Industry).
Last year a new association was brought to life to represent all the separate associations on a feder- al basis – the ‘Deutsche Automatenwirtschaft’ (the German Coin-op Machine Economy). This association is reaching out to the German public directly and has placed several adverts in national newspapers, for example, to displace untruths about the industry. Examples of such adverts highlight that it is not allowed to drink alcohol in arcades, only people 18 and older may enter arcades and that all AWPs are tested and approved by the state. The focus is that there are ‘no games without rules.’
THE BIG THREE: BALLY WULFF, GAUSELMANN GROUP AND LÖWEN
BALLY WULFF Two things struck the eye immediately on the Bally Wulff stand – the new logo and the stand theme. The new logo incorporates the crown from the parent company Schmidt Group. (The words ‘Ein Unternehmen der Schmidt Gruppe’ – a com- pany of the Schmidt Group – make up part of the logo as well). Bally Wulff is from Berlin and the stand theme revolved around Berlin. The Berlin wall was portrayed, the Alexander Square TV tower, a Berlin underground train, the green east- ern Berlin traffic lights and more gave this stand a distinctive atmosphere.
Bally Wulff has made a comeback in recent years in the German AWP market with its focus on con- nected jackpots. ‘Magic Cashpot’ and ‘Secret Island’ have been very successful in the past years. The new ‘Red Hot Firepot’ is now available connected to two AWPs (not only connected to four AWPs as has been standard). Players have to consciously play into the jackpot by placing a side-bet to participate – usually of 10 cents per game. Depending on this side-bet, the jackpot is triggered at different levels. Players who invest more, can win more during the jackpot feature. Bally Wulff offers three risk ladders – ‘Classic’ (winning up to 15,000 points), ‘Fun’ (winning up to 6,000 points) and ‘Extreme’ (winning up to 32,000 points) depending on player type.
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