Lottery and sports betting sales drop in Switzerland

According to the Swiss Federal Office of Justice, lottery and betting turnover fell 6.4 per cent year-on-year during 2017.

Switzerland.- The Swiss Federal Office of Justice recently revealed that lottery and betting turnover has dropped 6.4 per cent year-on-year in 2017 to €2.46 billion. Furthermore, it reported a €827 million gross gaming revenue (5.4 per cent down from 2016), mainly claimed by Swissloss and Lotterie Romande, which claimed 99.8 per cent combined.

According to the body, sports and race betting turnover was down €8.7 million year-on-year to €161.8 million, as revenue also dropped by €2.6 million to €51.1 million. Horse racing was the main driver of both figures as it accounted for €114.6 million of the total turnover and €30.6 million in revenue.

The government has recently set restrictions for international gambling operators but it seems to have had little effect on local punters. As reported by Swiss broadcaster SRF, VPN providers have seen a rise in the number of registrations from Swiss clients. That would be a way of bypassing Switzerland’s block and playing on foreign websites anyway.