In Switzerland, the federal council has decided to give all casinos new licences starting in 2025.
An announcement was made at the delegate’s meeting of Switzerland Casino Industry on Wednesday, 22 May. The current licenses will last until 2024. New agreements, which start next year, will grant 20-year licences.
Winterthur and Prilly now have new casinos, the former replacing Schaffhausen’s current casino after it was found that no application had been submitted.
Gerhard Pfister is the president of Swiss Casino Association. He believes that these new licenses are a landmark moment in Switzerland’s gambling history.
Pfister stated that the awarding of new concessions was a landmark. The federal government recognized that casinos today ensure responsible and safe operations, and provide great economic benefits to their regions.
All Switzerland Casinos now Members of Association
The Swiss Casino Group’s venues in Zurich and Schaffhausen have also joined the Swiss Casino Association after a unanimous decision. Winterthur’s membership will be submitted to the Swiss Casino Association once it is open.
The Swiss Casino Association now includes 21 casinos on land and 10 online.
Pfister believes that the increased collaboration between all Swiss casinos as part of the association is beneficial to the industry.
Pfister stated, “I am pleased that Swiss Casinos joined the association. With it, the casino industry can now speak with one voice.”
Marc Baumann, a member of the Swiss Casinos Board, said: “Online gaming is changing the Swiss gambling industry in a sustainable way.” “We are pleased to collaborate with the Swiss Casino Association in shaping the future.”
Land GGR is decreasing, but Online GGR on the rise
Switzerland will see a small decline in revenues from land-based casinos by 2023. However, online casino revenue is expected to grow significantly year on year.
Last year, land-based venues generated CHF623m (PS536m/EUR629m/$681.2m) in gross gaming revenue (GGR). This was a decrease of 1.1% from the previous year.
The 10 online casinos, however, have accumulated CHF286m GGR. This is a 14.3% increase year on year. Swiss Casino Association stated that online gambling is gaining popularity in other sectors besides gambling.
The casinos also contributed 3% in taxes per year, and the government will receive CHF409.3m by 2023. Over the past 20 years, Swiss casinos paid over CHF8bn of taxes. Most of this money has been used to fund the AHV system, which is the pension scheme in Switzerland.
Switzerland Lottery reports Record Profit
This week the Loterie Romande, a Swiss public lottery, announced a net profit increase of CHF5.1m in 2023. This year, the lottery is also set to pay out CHF243.7m in donations for good causes.
The GGR of Loterie Romande dropped by 3.4% in 2023 to CHF420.7m. In 2022, the Lottery posted a record-breaking GGR of CHF435.5m.
Jean-Rene Fournier, the chairman of Loterie Romande, attributed this increase in profits to a reduction in administrative and marketing costs.
Fournier stated that “this result is largely due to our rigourous management of costs and the strength of our digital offerings, as well as the diversification of our products, with the European Draw Game EuroDreams launching in October 2023.”
