Swiss lottery and sports betting revenue dips
Most product categories saw year‑on‑year declines in sales, according to the Swiss gambling regulator Gespa.
Switzerland.- Licensed lottery and Sports betting sales in Switzerland dipped in 2025. That’s according to the annual stats from Gespa, one of the country’s two gambling regulators. The supervisory authority’s figures show that most product categories saw year‑on‑year declines.
Total full-year turnover from cross‑cantonal lotteries and Sports betting came in at CHF3.87bn (€4.2bn), a drop of 2.4 per cent from 2024. Gross player yield fell 3.7 per cent to CHF1.203bn.
Online channels accounted for 24 per cent of gross player yield, up from 23 per cent in 2024 as land-based activity declined. Per‑capita stakes on major lotteries and Sports betting slipped from CHF438 to CHF424, reducing theoretical net spend per resident from CHF138 to CHF132.
Lottos and scratchcards continued to dominate, together generating around 75 per cent of total gross player yield, in line with 2024. Lotto products, such as EuroMillions and Swiss Lotto saw revenue of CHF1.277bn and CHF583.1m in gross player yield, down 3.3 per cent. Scratchcard sales totalled CHF810.5m (CHF316.7m gross player yield, down 2.9 per cent).
Sports betting generated CHF1.174bn (CHF223.2m GPY, down 4.4 per cent), while PMU’s horse‑racing pools generated CHF103.5m, a drop of 13.7 per cent year-on-year.
The two cross‑state lottery operators both saw a declines in net profit. Swisslos reported CHF562m, down 5.7 per cent from 2024, while Loterie Romande posted net profit CHF252m, down 2.3 per cent. The profits are distributed by Switzerland’s cantons to support culture, social programmes and sport.
The cross‑state skill‑games segment grew by 2.3 per cent to CHF19.2m in gross player yield in 2025. The number of authorised operators remained at 17, though the number of physical machines fell from 1,540 to 1,406. Ten online skill‑game products were active in 2025.
Gespa’s regulatory activity in 2025
There are two gambling regulators in Switzerland. The federal Eidgenössische Spielbankenkommission (ESBK) regulates the country’s casino sector, which has a concession system under which online casino offerings are tied to land-based casinos. Gespa (formerly Comlot) is an inter-cantonal authority that oversees lotteries and betting markets on behalf of the Swiss cantons (states).
Gespa reported that it authorised 62 new games and approved 59 modifications during the year. In the second half of 2025, the regulator carried out test purchasing at retail lottery outlets to verify compliance with age restrictions for Sports betting; results arrived shortly before year‑end.
At the end of the year, small lottery licences stood at 1,225 (up from 1,172), while there were nine local Sports betting licences across five cantons and 77 licences for small poker tournaments issued to 36 organisers in 19 cantons, slightly fewer than in 2024.
Gespa also reviewed 42 cantonal criminal rulings and assisted in 25 investigations into suspected unlawful gambling operations in 2025. It reported that its support included search participation, computer‑forensic work and expert reporting. The regulator also issued five new domain blocks bringing the total number of blocked unlicensed gambling domains to 671 by the end of 2025.
