Small bet, big money: In the hope of this, we gambled 2.1 billion euros last year on casinos, sports betting and online gambling, minus the winnings paid out. That was an increase of 1.7 percent. Casinos The Austrian monopoly on internet gambling could decline in the future.
Gross gaming revenue is calculated, i.e. the total stake minus the winnings returned to the players. The recent increase to 2.1 billion euros is part of a years-long upward trend. In 2020 we lost ‘only’ 1.65 billion, according to a study by market researcher Brancheradar.com. But we did not bet more money in all matches. The twelve local real casinos achieved the largest increase of almost 16 percent to 305 million euros. In addition to local residents, significantly more foreign guests also visited the casinos, and the revived tourism had a clear impact.
The second winner was online gambling via computer or smartphone. We deposited 429 million euros, three percent more than in 2022. However, growth has weakened, as turnover there rose by almost a quarter in 2022. However, our willingness to play slot machines stagnated. We have invested 313 million euros in legal, illegal and video lottery devices. Sports betting even fell slightly to 378 million euros.
In the field of sports betting, there is hope for revenue growth through the European Football Championship
The upcoming European Football Championship is likely to attract much more interest this year, “it is usually said that such an event generates additional monthly turnover,” hopes Florian Sauer, Austrian head of the Entain Group (bwin etc.). For the second year in a row, stakes in lottery games fell. Instead of 714 million euros in 2021, we only checked off notes worth 681 million euros – but as I said, the profits paid out have already been deducted.
Mobile phone gaming is more socially acceptable
Experts worldwide expect strong growth, especially for online gaming. While a visit to an arcade is viewed with suspicion, gambling on a mobile phone is discreet and more socially acceptable, says Sauer. Yet Austria lags far behind, and that is due to the legal conditions.
Only Casinos Austria’s subsidiary, win2day, has a license and is therefore the only one allowed to offer games of chance via the Internet. All others are illegal. In fact, an estimated 60 percent of online business is likely to go to foreign companies, some of which are licensed in another EU country (e.g. Malta) or operate globally from the Caribbean and elsewhere. They are effectively uncontrolled.
2027 End of online monopoly for casinos in Austria?
The legal monopoly of Casinos Austria is therefore outdated and must disappear, demand Entian boss Sauer and others in the industry. Germany, Italy, Spain, etc. have also already switched to a system in which multiple providers have received concessions based on certain criteria. “Finland will open its market in 2026, then Austria will be the only one in Europe with a monopoly.” Player protection, measures against fraud and money laundering, etc. would then be even better than today, and the tax authorities would then collect more taxes. . Currently, ‘illegal’ gambling companies only pay around 150 million euros per year to the state treasury, almost voluntarily.
The end of the monopoly could come in 2027, when the existing license must be reissued. And since the majority of Austria’s casinos are now owned by a Czech billionaire, it is also necessary to allow more competition for competitive reasons, Entain and others insist.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
