While Bwin is threatening legal action against the state government of Saxony, which has banned the Austrian bookmaker from taking sports bets in Germany, soccer side Werder Bremen has been fighting a legal battle to save its sponsorship deal with Bwin ever since the EUR 6 milion contract was originally signed.
The City of Bremen immediately imposed a ban on Bwin advertising and the general promotion of public gaming, but on July 24, the Administrative Court from the Free Hanseatic city ruled against the City of Bremen allowing Bwin advertising on the team\’s jersey and around the stadium.
Earlier this week, a court in the capital city of the state of Lower Saxony has barred Werder Bremen from showing the Bwin logo on its shirts during the inaugural match against Hanover at the FIFA World Cup Stadium.
Werder Bremen may well have go to courts across Germany and pick off the country\’s 16 federal states one-by-one, said the Financial Times.
In separate news, Bwin called the decision of the state of Saxony to revoke its betting license, a \’political assault\’ and has filed a legal complaint against the state for announcing the withdrawal to the media without informing the company first.
Stock market analysts estimate that at least 25 per cent of Bwin\’s sports betting revenue comes from Germany, where the online bookmaker has around 1 million customers.
“I don\’t think Bwin\’s operations in Germany can be shut down overnight, but without marketing, a betting company should die in the long run,” said Leopold Salcher, analyst at Raiffeisen Centrobank. “Bwin could survive, but without Germany, the growth story is gone,” he added.
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