Berlin law to decimate gaming industry
New restrictions will force the majority of the city’s 496 gaming arcades to shut
The German gaming industry has been shaken by the announcement that the Berlin state has approved the Berliner Spielhallengesetz, a law that has been in development for a number of years, with new restrictions on gaming halls and will force the majority of the city’s 496 arcades to shut.
The Berliner Spielhallengesetz, sets out minimum distance requirements for arcades, dictating that no venue can be located within 500m of another, and that none can be within 200m of a school or youth facility. In addition, the legislation states that venues will be restricted to opening hours of between 11am and 3am, and to eight devices per arcade.
The German state’s Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Business announced in June last year that the minimum distance rules would be implemented from June 2020. At that time, 124 licence renewal applications had been refused under trading regulations, and 36 due to the venues being located within 200 metres of a school. For venues that are refused a permit, they will be ordered to shut within six months.
The Berlin Senate noted that 154 legal challenges had been filed by operators, with the state prevailing in 101 cases. This will ultimately cut the number of legal gaming halls in the city to 120. There will be a maximum of 960 legal gaming machines in operation across the German capital, which Gauselmann pointed out means there will be only 25 legal devices per hundred thousand citizens.
Similar restrictions are being introduced for Berlin’s betting shops, from 1 October. Bookmakers will also be subject to the 200m minimum distance from schools, children’s and youth facilities, as well as from sporting venues. There will also be a 500m minimum distance between betting shops from that date, and there must be at least two kilometers’ distance between betting shops operated by the same company.
