"Operating and arranging sport bets as well as advertising for it without official approval is... criminal and hence forbidden," Saxony's Interior Ministry said in a statement. "This ban is valid for all commercial betting operators, regardless of whether they cite licences from Gibraltar or Neugersdorf [in Saxony]."
According to Saxony Junior Minister Juergen Staupe, the sports bookmaking ban on bwin applies throughout Germany. In 2002, bwin purchased a 50 percent stake in a Saxony-based gaming affiliate, now named bwin e.K. bwin e.K. held a gaming license issued by East German authorities before Germany’s reunification. Analysts estimate that at least 30 percent of bwin's sports betting revenue comes from bwin e.K., mostly from bets on football matches.
bwin, formerly known as BetAndWin.com, had moved aggressively into the German market over the past 12 months, using German soccer matches as its primary advertising vehicle.
