According to industry stakeholders, 2025 could be the year that Austria moves to end its online casino monopoly and award licences to multiple private operators.
This would mean that in the coming years, online casino products such as slots and table games could be fully licensed in the region for the first time.
It could also put a stop to the current player claims legal battles that have plagued operators that have been active in the market under a Maltese licence.
With the 15-year licence for current monopoly-holder Casinos Austria due to expire on 30 September 2027, authorities are due to start the tender process for new licences this year. Experts say this marks a window of opportunity for an opening of the online gambling market.
Discussing the current outlook, Simon Priglinger-Simader, vice president of the Austrian Betting and Gaming Association (OVWG), told iGB he was “optimistic for the first time ever” that online gambling could be regulated in Austria.
“We are in a very interesting time at the moment, because it’s the first time for five or more years that politicians have been open to talk to us and are considering a reform and move away from the monopoly system,” he explained.
“Now is the time – the now or never time – to act. If they want to move away from a monopoly, they will need to start preparing everything in 2025.”
Coalition talks ongoing
The decision on whether to introduce a new gambling framework will be down to Austria’s incoming coalition government.
Following the collapse of talks with the Social Democrats (SPÖ) and Liberal Party (NEOS), the centre-right People’s Party (ÖVP) are currently thrashing out a coalition agreement with the right-wing populist Freedom Party (FPÖ), who won the largest share of the vote in the 29 September elections last year.
If talks succeed, the two parties could form a new government in the coming weeks.
“It’s a very crucial moment within Austrian politics,” said Dr Arthur Stadler, founding partner at the Vienna-based law firm Stadler Völkel.
“It seems that there is a centre-right government coming in in Austria. Still, it’s not yet set in stone that this coalition or any other will rule Austria. However, what is clear is that any Austrian government will desperately need money for the budget – and a broader [gambling] licensing regime could deliver further income for the state.
“The time is now to be creative and responsible when allowing such a shift for the national online casino market,” Stadler added. “Other EU countries like Denmark can serve as a role model.”
Previous coalition government considered gambling re-regulation
In the previous FPÖ/ÖVP coalition that ran from 2017 to 2019, the Freedom Party emerged as a strong advocate for liberalising the online gambling market.
Pushing for reform, they argued that Casinos Austria’s monopoly limited consumer choice, made it harder to combat the illegal market and stifled potential tax revenues. At the time, however, their proposals faced opposition from the ÖVP and were never implemented.
Nevertheless, the conservatives have made far more positive noises about a regulated online market in recent months.
Late last year, the ÖVP attempted to draft new gambling law and establish an independent regulatory authority in Austria for the first time.
However, the legislation fell through after their Green Party coalition partners insisted on stringent player protections and regulations.
“Moment is now” for online reform
Austria stands out as one of the few jurisdictions in Europe with a monopoly on online gambling – a situation that industry lobbyists have been desperate to change.
European Gambling and Betting Association (EGBA) president secretary general Maarten Haije called for Austria to liberalise online gambling in December.
“The evidence from across Europe is clear and compelling: multi-licensing works,” Haijer said in a blog post. “It brings gambling activity into the regulated market, protects consumers and generates significant tax revenue.”
Unlike casino products, sports betting is not classed a gambling product in Austria and is regulated at a state rather than a federal level.
In online casino, however, there are signs that the monopoly has fuelled the rise of a dominant black and grey market.
“We have a 30% market share for the monopoly in Austria, which shows that it just doesn’t work anymore,” noted Priglinger-Simader.
Current tender process is “very discriminatory”
Back in 2012, the finance ministry awarded its only online gambling licence to Casinos Austria for a period of 15 years. This process, which was connected with the tender for a lotteries and slots licence, has been slammed as biased by industry stakeholders.
“The licensing regime as well as the awarding procedure were criticised as very discriminatory as three products (lotteries, slots, online casinos) were awarded in a package,” explained Stadler.
“That package was tailormade for one operator – the one and only in Austria that was able to fulfil the years-of-experience requirement for all three products and who could finally make such an application.”
Since the finance ministry also holds a 33.3% stake in Casinos Austria, there have also been accusations of a conflict of interest.
For this reason, the industry is pushing for the establishment of an independent authority who could award new licences to operators.
According to Stadler, this places the government under pressure to kickstart any gambling reforms as soon as possible, as legal challenges can also be expected.
This could mean that the entire process of setting up a new authority and awarding licences takes as long as two or three years.
“It’s the moment right now,” Stadler said. “It’s the year of the snake – the year of challenges and transformations – where things could finally change in Austria.
“It’s time to abolish the monopoly and to make a shift to a broader licensing regime.”
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/legal-compliance/regulation/austria-gambling-liberalisation-2025/
