University of Bremen to lead GGL’s player protection study

Gluecksspiel (GGL), the Federal Gambling Authority of Germany, has appointed the University of Bremen in the state of Lower Saxony to undertake its Player Protection study.

Stakeholders were informed that the University of Bremen would be tasked with evaluating “the effects of extensive player protection requirements” established by German federal states that accepted and implemented the rules of the Fourth Gambling Interstate Treaty (GlüNeuRStv) as of July 1, 2021.

The academic evaluation will include “both general technical requirements and game-specific requirements that affect the long-permissible online gambling as well as new permissible forms of gambling on the internet”.

Further considerations will include an assessment of the GlüNeuRStv regime’s measures on practicability, adjustments to player protection requirements, and adaptations to changes in gaming behaviours.

Dr. Tobias Hayer from the Institute for Public Health and Nursing, who will lead the research and analysis, commented: “I am very pleased about this contract and hope to be able to make a substantial contribution to the evaluation of the Gambling State Treaty with the results.”

The GGL awarded the study to the University of Bremen on the basis of its experience in leading research academia for public health disciplines, in which it maintains “one of the largest research institutes in Germany in this field”.

The Public Health and Nursing Research (IPP) unit was established in 2005 with the central goal of improving population health and public well-being.

At the beginning of 2023, the GGL took on its official remit as the federal agency of German gambling under the laws of the GlüNeuRStv regime.

During H1, the GGL announced the appointment of a new board of directors led by Udo Götze. The regulator maintains that its focus for German gambling in 2023 will be on improving player protections and tightening laws to protect consumers against unlicensed operators.