Is sports betting legal in Germany? Licences, the 5.3% tax and the rules

Who may offer sports betting in Germany

Sports betting has been licensed nationwide since the interim licences of October 2020, and since the Glücksspielstaatsvertrag 2021 the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder (GGL) in Halle licenses it for all 16 states (§ 9a Abs. 1 Nr. 3, § 27f). As of October 2, 2026, its whitelist listed 27 licensed sports betting operators with 33 websites, from Tipico, bet365, bwin, Betano and Interwetten to ODDSET. Eight of them also run betting shops: the GGL counted about 2,300 retail betting agencies in 2025.

Only fixed-odds bets on sports events, and separately horse races, can be licensed (§ 3 Abs. 1 GlüStV 2021). Licensed sites must use a .de address (§ 6e Abs. 3), show on their home page that they hold a German licence and from which authority, and keep players under 18 out.

The 5.3% betting tax

Every sports bet placed from Germany is taxed under the Rennwett- und Lotteriegesetz: 5.3% of the stake net of the tax itself (§§ 17–18), which works out at about 5.03% of what you hand over. The operator is the taxpayer (§ 19), and the tax is due as soon as the stake is paid (§ 20). How much of it reaches you is the operator’s choice:

On a winning €100 bet at odds of 2.00, that’s the difference between €200 back where the book pays the tax and €190 at ODDSET. Our betting tax calculator works out what each approach costs you on any market.

What you can bet on, and when

• Before the game: results, handicaps, totals, scorers and other bet types the GGL has approved; it publishes the permitted betting programme (§ 21 Abs. 5).
• During the game: only bets on the final result, or on the next goal, set or similar part of the result in sports where those are rare, such as football, hockey, ice hockey and volleyball (§ 21 Abs. 4). So no live bets on the next corner, card or throw-in.
• Never: bets on rule breaches or sanctions such as cards and penalties, on events mainly involving minors or amateurs (except major events), on events especially prone to manipulation (§ 21 Abs. 1a), and on anything that isn’t a sports event, such as elections, TV shows or the weather.
• Broadcasts and bets stay apart: a broadcast of a sports event, on TV or online, may not be linked with betting on it (§ 21 Abs. 4).

Your protections

The same cross-operator safeguards apply as for online slots:

• €1,000 a month in deposits across all licensed sites, unless an operator has checked your income and set a higher limit (§ 6c).
• One operator at a time: the LUGAS activity file blocks parallel play, with a 5-minute wait when you switch (§ 6h).
• A panic button that locks you out for 24 hours with one tap (§ 6i Abs. 3).
• OASIS, the national self-exclusion register, for at least 3 months or a year by default (§ 8a). See gambling help in Germany.

Advertising rules

Operators may not advertise with active athletes or officials, nor advertise bets on a game on the channel broadcasting it, right before or during the broadcast (§ 5 Abs. 3). Live scores may not be combined with betting adverts for that game, except on the bookmaker’s own site (§ 5 Abs. 6). And no one may advertise an unlicensed bookmaker (§ 5 Abs. 7): it’s a crime under § 284 Abs. 4 of the Criminal Code.

How big is the market?

In 2025, Germans staked about €8.3 billion on sports bets with licensed operators, who kept €1.89 billion, according to the GGL; two thirds of that was online. Our ranking of the best betting sites in Germany compares the main licensed sportsbooks.