German sportsbooks

The most popular bookmaker in Germany is Tipico

Through the eyes of sportsbook operators, the German market is one of the most interesting in the world. Germany is the most populous European country with an advanced and wealthy economy, which among other things means that German bettors can afford to wager higher amounts than, for example, Czechs and Slovaks. Not to mention compared to further east. Which bookmakers benefit the most from this?

Licensed vs. unlicensed sportsbooks

Sports betting is officially allowed in Germany, but as in the Czech Republic, there are legal frameworks that restrict this type of entertainment. In Germany, the laws can also vary slightly by state. Similarly, many companies exceed these laws. We mean to say that on the German market, besides operators of sports betting with the necessary license, there are also bookmakers without a license, i.e., they operate unofficially but accept German bettors.

How to recognize a licensed sportsbook?

It’s similar here, licensed operators show certain typical features, such as owning a German domain (.de) etc. Below are the characteristic elements of licensed and verified bookmakers. To be absolutely certain that it is a company with an official permit for operating sports betting, you would need to look up a list of operators from the website of the institution responsible for overseeing this (in our country, this can be found on the website of the Ministry of Finance). In Germany, it is the Federal States Gambling Authority, where you can find a so-called whitelist, i.e., a list of approved operators. To save you the trouble of looking for this list, we have done the work and listed the approved bookmakers. In addition, you can also find this information directly from the website of the bookmaker. As we have already mentioned above, at quality bookmakers with an official permit to operate sports betting, we can notice several common features.

• Owns a top-level national domain “.de”.
• Information about the official license can be found on the website.
• You cannot access the website with an IP address from a country from which bettors cannot register (for example, you cannot access the website of Germany’s largest bookmaker tipico.de with a Czech IP address).

List of licensed sportsbooks in Germany

In the attached table, you can see not only exclusively German bookmakers (tipico), but also globally known brands (bet365, Ladbrokes, Betway, bwin) and companies that also operate in the Czech market, such as Betano and merkur-sports (known in our country as MerkurXtip). If we look at it in terms of popularity and the number of clients, then the German number one is undoubtedly the bookmaker tipico, which also expanded into the American market from German-speaking countries in 2020. Other significant players include bet365 and bwin.

Unlicensed sportsbooks on the German market

Just like in our country, besides official bookmakers, brands not licensed by German authorities also offer their services. The most popular among these are 22BET and 20BET, for which Germany is the largest European market. These brands are particularly successful in less affluent markets. They have a strong base primarily in Africa, Asia, and South America. Germany thus represents a market with great potential.

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Unfortunately, that is not possible. The situation is different if you live in Germany or Austria. In that case, you will be able to create an account, even if you are Czech.

2️⃣ What is the best German sportsbook?

Such a rating is purely subjective and depends on the preferences of the individual bettor. However, the most popular among German bettors is tipico.

Michael Cermak

Article author – expert on bookmakers
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E-mail: michael@slothbet.com

I started gaining experience in sports betting through my work in the customer support of a foreign bookmaker. It didn't take long before I started betting actively myself. This has continued to this day. Besides thematic articles, I look for interesting bonus offers and valuable odds for you. You can find all articles here.
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