Werner Hansch was known throughout Germany as a football commentator. Then he became addicted to gambling. Now he wants to help others who are in the same situation.
He is probably one of the oldest founders in Germany: At the age of 84, the former football commentator Werner Hansch founded the startup Zockerhelden together with the lawyer Marc Ellerbrock. It’s the latest chapter in a career with many highs — and a deep fall — that ultimately motivated the television legend to form the company.
Hansch, who initially worked in mining and as a teacher, found his way into sports journalism by accident: he made his debut as a commentator at a trotting race in Recklinghausen because the racecourse announcer was ill. In 1973 he stood in for the unavailable stadium announcer of FC Schalke 04 and thus became his successor. Five years later, the WDR hired him as a commentator for football and equestrian sports, after which he became a reporter for the ARD sports show. In 1992 he finally switched to Sat1, where he commented on football games for another 14 years.
When he turned 65, his contract ended for labor law reasons – a situation for which he was not prepared, says Hansch in retrospect. “I suddenly had a lot of time, I had enough money. But I missed the meaning in life,” he says in an interview with Gründerszene. That was the basis for the crash that followed. “At this stage I walked past a betting shop, the door was open and I heard voices.”
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Gambling addiction costs Werner Hansch his fortune
Hansch makes a momentous decision: he goes in and allows himself to be persuaded to place a bet on a horse race, which he promptly wins. A few days later he goes again, this time the horse he bet on only comes second. “I thought, but you can’t break up like that. I made a bet – and that opened the door to hell,” he recalls.
Hansch falls into a gambling addiction that takes his entire life Assets costs. He gambles away money borrowed from friends and acquaintances, has to sell his house and is left by his partner. “By the end I felt like I was just a shell of flesh. All my values, everything that once defined me as a person, was gone.” A friend finally sends him to therapy and a self-help group that is supposed to help him out of years of addiction.
In 2020, Hansch made his story public for the first time on the TV show Celebrity Big Brother. “It took an incredible amount of courage from me because I was so ashamed,” he recalls. “But there was a wave of recognition and respect that lifted me up again.” Hansch wins the show and uses the prize money to pay a large part of his private Debts return. And: The lawyer Marc Ellerbrock became aware of his case through the outing.
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Zockerhelden founder: “Wants to prevent others from drifting into gambling addiction”
Ellerbrock has been advising and representing gambling addicts who want to get back gambling debts from online providers for years. In many cases, this is possible retrospectively for up to ten years, because numerous online casinos, poker providers and betting shops did not have or have no valid licenses. The lawyer gets in touch with Hansch and the idea for Zockerhelden is born: On the one hand, the start-up offers legal support for the recovery of gambling losses from a team of lawyers, and on the other hand personal advice for clients from Werner Hansch. In addition, Zockerhelden organizes prevention events for schools, sports clubs and companies.
“In our startup, I’m responsible for the souls, so to speak,” says Hansch. “I want to use my experience to prevent other people from drifting into gambling addiction. And if it’s already too late, make it easier for them to get into therapy and back to normal life.” The advice from the former sports reporter is free for the clients, while the financing of the legal process is handled by a litigation financier who is independent of Zockerhelden receives a commission if successful.
“Many addicts have the problem that they can no longer pay for such a process,” says Ellerbrock. Thanks to the external financing, those affected would not have to pay in advance. There is no commission for the work of Zockerhelden that goes beyond the costs of legal assistance. “The start-up does not have an exclusively economic background and differs from some others in this respect,” explains Ellerbrock. The company was founded as a UG and, according to him, is self-financed.
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“Football has lost its innocence”
The target group is “enormously large,” says the lawyer, referring to a report by the Federal Government Commissioner for Addiction and Drug Issues, according to which gambling providers in Germany in 2021 achieved a turnover of more than 50 billion euros. Within two weeks of its founding, Zockerhelden had already received several hundred inquiries. “Gambling addiction is cutting a swath in society right now,” warns Ellerbrock. “This has been acknowledged, but nothing is being done to contain the problem.”
Werner Hansch also sharply criticizes the football industry in this context: “They have now allied themselves with these bloodsuckers,” he complains, referring to advertising for sports betting providers on jerseys, in stadiums or on TV broadcasts, for example. “So football has lost its innocence.” Hansch says he also wants to work against this in his new role. In any case, he himself found fulfillment again by founding Zockerhelden: “Prevention is now my purpose in life, which gives me meaning.”