Belgium’s Brussels casino concession, valued at around €750m ($875m), has been thrown into uncertainty. The Council of State’s Auditor General has recommended suspending the City of Brussels’ decision to award the casino’s next 15-year operating contract to ECK NV, the Belgian company behind the Napoleon Games brand and part of the Super group.
The current concession is set to expire on 31 December, with Napoleon Games slated to assume operations on 1 January 2027. As a result, Viage, the current operator, was expected to depart at year’s end. However, the Auditor General’s recommendation has cast doubt on this planned transition.
The recommendation follows an urgent appeal from Viage, which challenged the City of Brussels’ decision and asked the Council of State to suspend the award. ECK NV scored 91.02 out of 100 in the tender process, narrowly beating Viage, which scored 87.74.
The final result came down largely to one area of the tender – the bidders’ plans for the casino's future. Napoleon Games was awarded 30 points for its proposal, while Viage received 20. Without those points, Viage would have taken the lead in the overall ranking.
That difference is at the heart of the dispute. The Auditor General argued that when a subjective qualitative assessment is decisive in awarding a 15-year contract, the public authority must clearly explain why one proposal deserves a significantly higher score than another.
In this case, the Auditor General found that the city of Brussels had not provided sufficient justification for its decision and recommended that the concession award be suspended.
The Council of State is not required to follow the recommendation. However, such recommendations are rarely disregarded in practice, adding uncertainty to Napoleon Games’ planned takeover of the casino.
A ruling is expected on the suspension request in the coming weeks
