BAV urges prevention focus and tougher illegal gambling enforcement

The Bavarian Automaten-Verband (BAV) has called for stronger prevention, early detection and player and youth protection, marking the national gambling addiction action day on 30 September 2026. In a press release issued on 28 September 2026, the association said prevention of gambling addiction is a shared task for politicians, authorities, researchers, addiction support services and the gambling industry.

BAV president Andy Meindl said player protection must be a central part of the association's work, including information, early help offers and consistent implementation of legal requirements. He said player protection must not be a lip-service commitment and had to be lived in daily operations, citing well-trained staff, effective prevention concepts, early-detection measures, responsible handling of guests and consistent implementation of statutory requirements so that problematic play is recognised as early as possible and help is made accessible.

The BAV said it supports its member companies in implementing legal requirements and in establishing a professional prevention culture. Independent certifications could, in the association's view, help make quality requirements transparent and verifiable.

The association also backed consistent enforcement against illegal gambling, drawing a distinction between legal and illegal offers. Regulated operators are subject to legal requirements, controls and binding player and youth protection standards, while illegal offers avoid those mechanisms, according to the BAV.

Meindl said that anyone seeking to strengthen player protection must also tackle the black market consistently, because the protection mechanisms required in legal and regulated gambling are missing there. He added that legal gambling must become more attractive and more modern so that players have a genuine incentive to stay in the regulated market rather than move to the black market, arguing that both consistent prevention and effective enforcement against illegal gambling are needed alongside an attractive legal offer.

The BAV said the action day showed that effective prevention only succeeds jointly, with politicians, authorities, addiction support services and the gambling industry called on to recognise risks early, inform those affected and their relatives about help offers and ensure a high-quality and reliable legal gambling offer. Meindl said the association wants a culture in which gambling addiction can be discussed without stigmatising people, with information, prevention and help starting where people can be reached, and that the industry wants to contribute to this. The association reaffirmed its commitment to professional prevention, consistent player and youth protection and a controlled and transparent gambling offer.