Lotto Über Alles, Germany’s DLTB Posts a Tidy Uptick

Defying Covid and the lure of illegal online betting, Germany’s Association of State Lotteries, Deutscher Lotto und Totoblock (DLTB), has announced record results for 2020.

German punters staked €7.9bn (£7.13bn/US$9.68bn) on games in their 16 local lotteries, 8.2 per cent more than in 2019, which created more than 145 millionaires and generated €3.1bn (£2.8bn/US$3.8bn) for state coffers, a year-on-year increase of almost seven per cent.

This meant, effectively, that every day an estimated €8.6m (£7.8m/US$10.5m) was funded to charities and good causes through duties and taxes paid to state governments in this nation of 83 million people.

“The 16 German state lottery companies proved to be crisis-proof and reliable during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic,” asserted Jürgen Häfner, Chair of the DLTB.

Häfner, also Managing Director of the Rheinland-Pfalz State Lotto, continued: “This good annual result shows that our gaming offerings are as popular with participants as before – despite numerous points of sale having to close temporarily during the pandemic.

“Many customers compensated for these closures, for example, by submitting multi-week tickets and using online,” he said.

More than half of all lottery sales, some €3.98bn (£3.6bn/US$4.88bn), were generated by the flagship “Lotto 6aus49” game, which means six out of 49. In late September, with a small increase in ticket prices, to €1.20, prize money was also upped.

“Eurojackpot” also enjoyed a strong year, with wagers on the pan-European game increasing by 18 per cent to €1.47bn (£1.33bn/US$1.8bn) in Germany.

As elsewhere, the shuttering of traditional retail outlets boosted online action, by just over 40 per cent in Germany, as gamers bought €913m (£824m/US$1.1bn) worth of tickets through official state lotteries’ websites. In total, digital transactions marked 11.6 per cent of all lottery sales.

Like the UK, Germany’s gambling sector is set for major changes this year.

New regulations known as the GlüNeuRStV–designed to strengthen the state lottery monopoly of pro-moderate gambling, while suppressing the illegal online market–will pass into law in July.

Despite heavy opposition from the DLTB in the past, online casino and sports betting will also be on offer to German punters with the advent of GlüNeu.

Added Häfner: “We see the new regulations as benefitting the common good in our country. The lottery operates in the public interest. Without it, many projects in the areas of welfare, sport and culture, as well as in the preservation of monuments and in environmental protection, would not be possible in all federal states.”

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