State sports betting monopoly and EU coherence requirement: dependency on impact assessment of migration to other gambling sectors

The Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) allowed the appeal for revision, granting the complainant's request and determining that the case presents a question of fundamental legal significance under § 132 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 VwGO; consequently, the review of the lower court’s decision is authorized. The dispute centers on the compatibility of the state monopoly on sports betting with EU law, specifically examining whether compliance with the Union-level requirement of coherence is contingent upon an impact assessment of player migration toward other, more liberalized gambling sectors. The decisive legal basis is the principle of fundamental importance for admission to revision in administrative proceedings (§ 132 Abs. 2 Nr. 1 VwGO), which superseded the need to evaluate other statutory grounds for admission such as legal divergence or procedural error (§ 132 Abs. 2 Nr. 2 and 3 VwGO).