Swiss Casino Revenue Falls As Online Growth Stays Small

Swiss casinos ended 2025 with lower total revenue, even though online gambling edged up. New ESBK data shows that the market remains stable, but the land based decline, licence changes, and illegal online gambling fight gave regulators plenty to manage.

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Good to know

• Swiss casinos generated CHF878.5 million in GGR in 2025, down 2.1% from CHF898 million in 2024.
• Land based casino revenue fell 3.9% to CHF564.9 million, while online casino revenue rose 1.2% to CHF313.6 million.
• ESBK added 580 domain blocks against unauthorised gambling websites and opened 105 new investigations.

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Online Casino Growth Fails To Offset Retail Decline

Switzerland online casino market kept growing in 2025, but not fast enough to cover lower land based gaming revenue.

The Swiss Federal Casino Commission, known as ESBK, reported total casino GGR of CHF878.5 million ($1.08 billion) for 2025. That was a 2.1% drop from CHF898 million a year earlier. The split tells the real story. Land based casinos produced CHF564.9 million, down 3.9%, while online operations reached CHF313.6 million, up 1.2%.

That pattern matches pressure across regulated Swiss gambling. Separate Gespa data showed lotteries and sports betting turnover fell 2.4% year on year to CHF3.87 billion in 2025, while gross player yield dropped 3.7% to CHF1.203 billion.

The casino levy also moved lower. ESBK revenue generated CHF263.1 million for the federal casino levy, down 2.1%. The federal government received CHF219.99 million, while cantonal authorities received CHF43.08 million.

ESBK kept its own budget lean at CHF10.7 million. Fees and fines covered CHF9.36 million, with CHF1.35 million coming from the federal treasury.

New Licence Cycle Brings Closures And Online Exits

The 2025 numbers arrived during the first year of Switzerland new concession cycle, which runs through 2044. By year end, Switzerland had 20 land based casinos and nine online operators.

Several properties changed status during the year. Casino St. Moritz closed in April because of financial problems, and ESBK revoked its concession in August. The licence will not be re tendered before a federal review scheduled for 2028.

Casino Schaffhausen also closed in October after 23 years. Casino Winterthur absorbed its staff and assets. Casino Davos took a different route, closing temporarily to relocate before reopening on 15 December after passing a regulatory inspection.

Online licences also saw movement. Mendrisio launched online gambling in July 2025. Casino Basel and Casino Montreux left the online market after deciding the business was not financially sustainable, and their licence extensions were revoked. Prilly received an extension until 31 October 2026 to start operations because of unexpected building remediation work.

The Swiss Federal Council had already granted new agreements to all casinos for 2025 in 2024, so the year tested how operators would handle the new long term concession period in real market conditions.

ESBK Flags Illegal Online Gambling Risk

Regulators also spent 2025 chasing illegal online gambling. ESBK described a strong rise in unauthorised online activity, a pattern seen in several European markets as offshore websites try to reach regulated jurisdictions.

The commission added 580 domain blocks against unauthorised online gambling sites and opened 105 new investigations. Swiss law allows access blocking when online gambling sites target Switzerland without a licence or operate from abroad while hiding their location.

ESBK worked with cantonal police and prosecutors through joint operations and training. It also called for more cooperation between European regulators, since illegal gambling websites often cross borders faster than national enforcement systems can respond.

Player protection received attention too. Registrations in the nationwide exclusion register, Spielsperre, have continued to rise each year since the 2019 gambling law reforms. From 7 January 2025, Switzerland and Liechtenstein also began automatic mutual recognition of gambling exclusion orders.

ESBK still sees weaknesses in the system. Some exclusion register information was outdated or too thin to reflect current player risk. The commission said changes to the federal money games law or its ordinance may be needed to make the register more effective.

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