The CEO of Casinos Austria, Erwin van Lambaart, has spoken out against liberalising the Austrian gambling monopoly. Casinos Austria, through its significant stake in ÖLG Holding, in part operates Win2Day, which has the country’s monopoly on online gambling.
The preliminary draft states that there will continue to be a single concession for lotteries and online gambling.
The draft of the new gambling law is now available, and political parties have until the end of March to agree on it if the concession tendering timeline is to be maintained.
However, recent political signals suggest that the gambling monopoly may be abolished. Van Lambaart stated: “The NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum support opening the market for ideological reasons - I understand that, but not when it comes to the gambling market.''
The Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) recently spoke in favour of maintaining the monopoly. These two parties, along with the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP), form the coalition government.
Lambaart claims that opening the online gambling market presents risks regarding player protection.
He also added that Casinos Austria has become the second-largest taxpayer in the republic, contributing around €900m ($1.03bn).
Major European and global operators interested in the Austrian market dispute the claim that opening the market would weaken player protection.
Thomas Forstner, Secretary General of the industry association OVWG – Austrian Association for Betting and Gambling, stated: “A licensing system does not weaken player protection - it strengthens it.”
OVWG represents online providers licensed in EU countries that do not have a concession in Austria but still pay taxes there.
They highlight Denmark's licensing model as a notable example, where over 90% of players use legal providers, while in Austria the channelisation rate stands at around 40%.
Van Lambaart argues that liberalisation has been less successful in other European markets, citing channelisation rates of around 50% in Sweden and the Netherlands.
According to the draft law, Video Lottery Terminals (VLTs) will be eliminated in Austria. This change will impact the WinWin outlets of Casinos Austria, which currently operate approximately 850 VLT machines across 20 locations and employ around 200 people.
Currently, around 2,000 illegal gambling operators target Austria. According to the draft regulations, their activity could be significantly reduced through measures such as payment blocking and IP blocking.
However, the proposal also acknowledges that these measures cannot completely prevent players from circumventing such restrictions.
The draft law also proposes introducing a central self-exclusion register.
Austria’s monopolies: Casinos Austria AG runs 12 land - based casinos, while Österreichische Lotterien (OL) and its online platform Win2Day - majority-owned via ÖLG Holding by Casinos Austria - handle lotteries and online gambling
