Schleswig-Holstein Awards Three Online Gaming Licenses; Betfair Benefits
On Thursday, Schleswig-Holstein awarded three online gambling licenses. In September, the German state voted to allow sports betting and online poker as long as the sites were established in the European Union.
Betfair was awarded a license for sports betting, as was mybet, a subsidiary of Jaxx AG, and the state lottery. The licenses are valid until 2018.
"We view this as a significant positive for the company [Betfair], given that it further erodes the bear case on the stock that Betfair would be unable to get licensed outside of the UK," analysts at BarCap told Reuters.
A 20 percent tax on gross profits will be taken from licensees and Schleswig-Holstein has allowed for online casino-style gaming, which Germany's 15 other states wanted to ban.
According to Reuters, Schleswig-Holstein's interior ministry said that in the upcoming weeks, more licenses are expected to be awarded to for online poker and other casino-style games.
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