Swiss casinos are banking on online trend – a model for German casinos?

There are around 30 online providers in Germany which hold a licence to provide virtual slot machines. It is striking that the land-based casinos have till now been holding back from the internet. On the other hand, the situation in Switzerland seems to be the opposite. Many casinos here hold an “extension to their concession for online games of chance”. Can this be a model for Germany?

Around two weeks ago we had published an article on GambleJoe about which providers hold a German games of chance licence for online slots. Here we discovered that 27 companies have received slot licences for various online casinos. Besides this, four gambling companies have by now received poker licences from the GGL (Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde der Länder) which is the gambling authority for all regions in Germany. A detailed look however reveals that the local casinos are not yet involved in the online business.

Only one land-based casino with online services on the German market

Virtual slot machines have been legal in Germany since the 1^st. July 2021. This means that under very strict provisions companies providing games of chance services in Germany may provide legal online slots and poker. Around two weeks ago we had reported that currently 27 licences have been issued for virtual slot games. We also noticed that apart from one exception there are no land-based casinos which hold an online license.

In mid-January we had reported on GambleJoe that “die-spielbank.de” is the first state online casino. The Sächsischen Spielbanken-GmbH & Co. KG which also operates the casinos in Leipzig, Dresden und Chemnitz is behind this venture. This platform is the only online service of the gambling company which otherwise operates locally.

Switzerland: many online casinos hold online licence

The majority of the renowned casinos in Switzerland hold a so-called “extension to their concession”, which has been issued to them by the Federal Council. This extension permits the locally based casinos to also provide their slot machines services on the internet. Apart from the Sächsischen Spielbanken in Germany there are currently no other operators which provide similar online services. But which Swiss casinos hold an “extension to their concession” and when did the online business start?

• Casino Baden (started online on the 5th. July 2019)
• Casino Luzern (started online on the 22nd. August 2019)
• Casino Pfäffikon (started online on the 2nd. September 2019)
• Casino Davos (started online on the 9th. September 2019)
• Casino Interlaken (started online on the 24th. February 2020)
• Casino Bern (started online on the 15th. September 2020)
• Casino Meyrin (started online on the 16th. November 2020)
• Casino Lugano (started online on the 1st. March 2021)
• Casino Basel (started online on the 16th. December 2021)
• Casino Montreux (started online on the 22nd. December 2021)

Source: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft

How many casinos are there in Germany?

According to our research there are currently around 70 casinos in Germany. Most of the casinos are situated in Lower Saxony (10). There are also many casinos in Bavaria (9) and Rhineland-Pfalz (6). The Spielbank Baden-Baden, the Spielbank Bad Homburg, the Spielbank Wiesbaden, the Casino Dortmund Hohensyburg, the Casino Esplanade, as well as the Spielbank Bad Wiessee on Lake Tegern are among the most popular ones.

Conclusion

The state casino companies have not yet discovered the potential of the online business. Even though now they can provide their services legally all over Germany, the land-based casinos are not yet availing themselves of this opportunity. This may change if classical casino games such as roulette or blackjack become permissible in some regions. Till then the Swiss model shows that even traditional and renowned casinos can be successful on the internet, and they can present themselves from another modern side.

Image source: https://pixabay.com/de/vectors/flagge-kombination-deutschland-36072/