22 December 2022

New Allocation of Casino Concessions: Conclusion and result of the tender procedure

  • Articles
  • Legal
  • Gaming / Entertainment

As of December 31, 2024, the concessions granted for the operation of casinos and online casino games in Switzerland will run out. On April 27, 2022, the Federal Coun-cil decided to newly allocate 23 concessions (10 A-concessions and 13 B-concessions).

  • Dr. Andreas Glarner

    Legal Partner

  • Stefan Keller

    Senior Legal Associate

Overview:

On June 1, 2022, the Swiss Federal Gaming Board (SFGB), on behalf of the Federal Council, invited interested parties to apply for the concessions in an open procedure. On October 31, 2022, the deadline for submitting concession applications expired. In a communication dated November 17, 2022, the Federal Council communicated the results of the application procedure.

Result:

Within the prescribed deadline, 29 concession applications were received. Of these, 14 applications for an A-concession and 15 applications for a B-concession, whereby at least one application was submitted for each of the 23 zones. At the same time, twelve applicants - 10 of whom already offer online gaming - applied for an extension of the concession to operate online casino games in addition to the concession appli-cation.

Of the current casino operators, all but one have resubmitted an application for land-based casino operations in their respective zone. The Swiss Casinos Group has decided not to submit a concession application for its current location in Schaffhausen and to instead apply for the new concession to be awarded in the Winterthur zone. In its place, a private investor group, MW Management & Event AG, has applied for a concession so that they can continue to run the casino in Schaffhausen.

In 19 zones (Baden-Aarau, Bern, Bernese Oberland East, Geneva, Fribourg, Jura, Lucerne, Lugano, Locarno, Mendrisio, Montreux, Neuchâtel, Nordbünden, Südbün-den, Sarganserland, Schaffhausen, Schwyz, Winterthur and Zurich), only one applicant each applied for the concession to be awarded.

Competitive situation in four zones (Basel, St. Gallen, Lausanne and Valais)

Several applicants have applied for the concession in the four zones mentioned above.

In the "Basel" zone, Swiss Casino Oftringen AG is applying for a concession to operate a casino in the municipality of Oftringen in addition to the previous concession holder based in the city of Basel. In the "St. Gallen" zone, the previous casino operator and Casino Admiral Management AG are applying for the concession to be awarded. Both want to operate a casino in the municipality of St. Gallen.

In the "Valais" zone, three applicants are competing against each other: the previous concession holder of the casino in Crans-Montana, Casino du Valais SA for the operation of a casino in the city of Sion and Casino des Alpes SA for one in the city of Martigny. Three applicants have also applied in the "Lausanne" zone. GCDL SA wants to operate a casino in the city of Lausanne; Projet Casino Prilly AG in the mu-nicipality of Prilly and Casino du Léman SA in the municipality of Romanel-sur-Lausanne.

Next steps

The SFGB is currently reviewing the applications submitted and carrying out the formal checks. A next update can be expected in spring 2023. In particular, further information on the applicants and the content of the individual applications will then be communicated.
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