For more than a decade, all stakeholders involved in online gaming were facing a high degree of legal uncertainty in Austria. Demand was substantial and growing, yet the law reserved online casino and lottery products to a single concessionaire operating under the win2day brand. Everyone else served Austrian players from abroad, in a grey zone that generated a steady stream of player restitution litigation but left the monopoly with a shrinking market share of about 30-40%. The draft amendment now in consultation sets out to end that situation and to replace the monopoly with an open, licensed online market. It is the most significant recalibration of Austrian gaming law in a generation.

From monopoly to licensing

The core move is straightforward. Instead of a single online concession, the draft creates a licensing regime under which multiple operators can be authorised to offer online gaming in and into Austria, subject to strict player protection, supervisory and tax conditions. A dedicated independent gaming supervisory authority is to be established to run the system. Until that authority is operational, the transitional provisions keep the competent tax office, Finanzamt Österreich, in charge of issuing concessions. The existing monopoly concession is set to expire in September 2027, which is the pivot around which the whole transition 
is organised.