Hamburg/Wedel. Live betting on ETV volleyball players remains possible. Soon there will also be licensed data scouts in basketball at SC Rist Wedel?
earlier this week he sends Hamburg Football Association (HFV) Mail to its 389 clubs. Contents: A guide to dealing with data scoutswhich make illegal live betting possible by passing on the game events in real time. “The clubs wanted such a guide. We are happy to comply with this request,” says HFV President Christian Okun. The instructions in the HFV paper describe how a data scout can be recognized and – if necessary with the help of the police – expelled from the sports facility.
Eimsbütteler TV was critical of volleyball live betting several times
Many amateur football clubs are defending themselves against illegal sports bets on their clubs, which can be made in various variations both before the games and live. Finally, betting on amateur football games is prohibited in Germany according to the State Treaty on Gambling. The clubs are given tailwind by the recent resolution of the Conference of Sports Ministers, which, among other things, emphasized the need for official approval for each league and each individual bet.
The clubs in Hamburg have the HFV as an association behind them. But what about other sports? In volleyball, Eimsbütteler TV has a women’s and a men’s team in the 2nd Bundesliga. The ETV has repeatedly expressed criticism regarding the live bets that can be placed on its teams’ games. But Volleyball Bundesliga GmbH has signed a contract with the provider Genius Sports, which sends officially licensed data scouts into the halls and makes live betting possible.
Volleyball Bundesliga GmbH sees positive regulation through data scouts
As a query from the Abendblatt shows, Volleyball Bundesliga GmbH (VBL) does not want to change its course even after the decision of the Conference of Sports Ministers. The association’s argument: The resolutions of the Conference of Sports Ministers “deal with amateur sport”. The first two volleyball leagues are professional leagues. The “current exploitation of rights by the VBL in foreign betting markets” is “not unlawful”. And: “If betting is accessible in Germany, this may be a violation by illegal providers, but not by the VBL.” That is why the complaint of aiding and abetting illegal gambling against the VBL is not tenable.
The managing director of Volleyball Bundesliga GmbH Daniel Sattler recently argued in an NDR documentary that the “licensing of betting rights and data scouts” is “part of the protection of competition in order to take action against manipulation”. If these data scouts didn’t exist, countless unlicensed data scouts would “sit in the halls or in front of the live ticker screens or streaming images and transmit the data.”
Thomas Melchior: Data scouts make illegal sports betting possible
However: Volleyball Bundesliga GmbH and its first two federal leagues have still not made it onto the whitelist of the Joint Gaming Authority of the States (GGL), which lists the leagues and betting markets that can be bet on in Germany.
The expert in the fight against illegal sports betting, Thomas Melchior, who filed the complaint against the VBL, is still not very convinced by Sattler’s arguments. “I hope that the public prosecutor’s office will investigate the case for aiding and abetting illegal gambling,” he says. “For me, the following point is crucial: Only the data scouts from Genius Sports, licensed by the VBL, make illegal live betting offers from Germany possible. And that happens with the knowledge of the VBL.”
Melchior appeals to the GGL
Regarding the inclusion of Volleyball Bundesliga GmbH in the whitelist, Melchior appeals to the GGL not to grant approval. “In my view, the allegations against the VBL must first be clarified. The VBL is trying to legalize an illegal offer by adding it to the whitelist. It would be an important sign if this approach is unsuccessful.”
The first U-turn on the part of the association was made in basketball. SC Rist Wedel plays there in the third highest league, ProB. When Wedel’s chairwoman Andrea Koschek turned to the association’s managing director Christian Krings in mid-October with concern because a data scout had shown up at the home game against the Berlin Braves, she was initially met with warnings about match manipulation and illegal sports betting – as email correspondence available to the Abendblatt shows with little understanding.
Basketball association has offer to market betting and data rights
Almost two weeks later, the association decided to advise the ProB league teams to expel the data scouts from the halls. Ultimately, there is “no contractual basis for collecting the data”. However, as Krings had already indicated in his first letter, this contractual basis could soon be in place. The basketball association has already received an offer from a partner to market the betting and data rights. A query from the Abendblatt as to when a contract could be concluded with which company initially remained unanswered.
More on the topic
Maybe SC Rist Wedel will soon have officially licensed data scouts and make live betting just as possible as with the women’s and men’s volleyball games on Eimsbütteler TV.
