Switzerland Prepares To Reopen Sports Betting, Approves Two New Casinos

Categories: All News, Covid-19 and Gambling, Europe Gambling News | Published by: Daniel Andreewski

04/05/2020

Reading Time: 4 Min

Image: Shutterstock

Two new competitors are expected to join the online gambling market in Switzerland after receiving the signal from Bundesrat, the country’s National Council. The Swiss government plans to loosen its measures in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic by allowing essential businesses to operate, given that they follow strict hygiene and social distancing protocols.

To new casinos will be given license to operate

Casino Lugano and Casino du Lac Meyrin might start operating their online casino platforms after the approval of the ESBK (Eidgenössische Spielbankenkommission), the Swiss federal gambling regulator in charge of gambling operations in the country.

The two companies will add to the five licensed casinos operating in the Swizz territory. Casino International, part of the Sazka Group, runs the Casino Lugano while the Casino du Lac is managed by the French operator Groupe Partouche and the iSoftBet. Casino du Lac inked a contract with Evolution Gaming in its plan to operate in the country widely.

The Swiss government ordered all registered casinos in the territory to heighten their measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Closures of gambling houses in Switzerland were extended after June 7, and the reopening of the gambling houses and casinos is dependent on the authorities after receiving sufficient proof that the covid-19 crisis is controllable or over.

The five licensed casinos in the territory launched websites that encourage and offer relief during the lockdowns. Still, their efforts are not enough to cover the lost revenue of land-based casinos. Luckily, online casinos increased the number of their registrations, which are mostly from gamblers from the land-based casinos.

There was an increase in registrations and logins in online casinos in almost every part of the world.

Swiss sports to resume from June 8

The Swiss government will allow professional sports to resume on June 8, given that they are played behind closed doors. The regulators provided additional betting market options to operators that are struggling to do business while all sports operations are in lockdown since mid-March.

The country’s top football league, the Swiss Super League, suspended games from March 2 to 23, but the games were postponed indefinitely. All major sporting events around the globe were delayed or canceled because of the government battle with the deadly pathogen. The cancellations closed the opportunity for sports bettors to enjoy the entertainment.

The Federal Council announced on April 29 that they would allow training of athletes to resume starting on May 11 as the government loosens their preventive measures. Many essential businesses, including shops, restaurants, markets, museums, and libraries, are allowed to reopen operations, but there was no signal for casinos to operate.

The council said that the easing of measures is conditional on the businesses and institutions concerned taking suitable precautionary measures.

Contrary to Switzerland’s reopening, France’s Prime Minister Édouard Philippe decided not to loosen the country’s preventive measure until September 2020, ending the 2019-2020 Ligue 1 season. There shall be no winner during the season because it was declared void.