Bremen’s Senator for the Interior, Ulrich Mäurer, wants advertising for sports betting to be banned in Germany. The background to this is the decision by the English Premier League in football to no longer allow shirt advertising from betting providers from the 2026/27 season.
“The German football clubs could take this measure as a model, as well as the clubs in amateur sports,” Mäurer told several Bremen media.
“It would be more consistent, on the other hand, to go one step further and not only remove the logos of the sports betting providers from the chest, but also from the jersey sleeves and the advertising boards in the stadiums.” The SPD politician made it clear: “My goal is still to ban advertising for sports betting in general.”
Eight Premier League clubs are currently advertising a betting provider on their jerseys, not a single one in the Bundesliga. However, most German clubs – including Werder Bremen – have nevertheless concluded sponsorship agreements with the relevant companies.
Mäurer has already made changes
“Sports betting advertising and sponsoring are omnipresent and help to arouse desires, especially among young people, that would not exist without advertising,” argues Mäurer.
“There are already around 1.3 million people addicted to gambling and more than three million gamblers who are on the brink or who are exhibiting risky gambling behavior. The social impact of this is significant.”
Mäurer has already successfully taken on the professional football industry in another area: since 2015, Bremen has repeatedly billed the German Football League for the additional costs of police operations in high-risk games.
In a year-long legal dispute with the DFL, the smallest German federal state finally prevailed.