Germany-facing sports betting operators are hailing their shiny new licenses while their affiliate marketing partners are confused and nervous.

Last Friday saw the region council of Darmstadt in the German state of Hesse issue its ‘white list’ of the first nationwide sports betting permits just days ahead of the October 15 implementation of the country’s new online gambling ‘toleration’ regime. The 15 licensees are said to account for around 75% of Germany’s betting market volume last year.

GVC Holdings claimed four licenses for its Bwin, Gamebookers, Ladbrokes and Sportingbet brands. Also making the grade was Bet365, BetVictor, Gauselmann Group’s Cashpoint Malta, Greenvest Betting’s Neo.bet site, Berlin-based IBC Sportsbetting’s WettArena brand, Jaxx, Novomatic’s Admiral Sportwetten (which shut its German retail betting shops in May), Playtech’s HPYBET brand, TipBet, Tipico and TipWin.

The licenses were only issued due to the recent withdrawal of a court challenge filed by Austrian bookmaker Vierklee, which threw Germany’s licensing plans into disarray in April by challenging the transparency of the licensing process. (No doubt Vierklee’s license will be among the next batch issued by the grateful Darmstadt regulators.)