New regulations are causing a few problems in Austria, but the country is still home to some of the finest companies in the industry.
AUSTRIA has long been a powerhouse in the European gaming industry, housing as it does a string of world-class suppliers and now, subject to appeals, a couple of world-class operators.
At the moment though it does face some challenges, particularly in the street market. New gaming regulations have brought about a significant reduction in the total number of gaming machines allowed in the country. The government introduced a maximum ratio of one gaming machine per 1,200 residents.
At the same time, low stakes gaming machines in the four regulated provinces, Upper Austria, Lower Austria, Burgenland and Carinthia, are limited to premises with restricted entrance control and player protection measures. No one in the industry would argue against similar measures but Novomatic’s Max Lindenberg describes these as “the most restrictive in the whole of Europe.”
On the casino side the number of licences was increased from 12 to 15. Previously, the country’s dozen casinos were run under a monopoly under the control of the state-run Casinos Austria. The granting of the new licences, however, opened the market up to private bids.
Novomatic, a major operator in many jurisdictions around the world, had long felt frustrated that it was not permitted to run casinos in its domestic market. That all changed when the company was awarded two of the new licences.
However, Casinos Austria objected to that and launched an appeal, putting the two licences temporarily on hold. Novomatic is confident though that the appeal will be unsuccessful and that the licences will be confirmed before the end of this month. A ban on AWPs in the province of Vienna is also causing problems. Novomatic has decided to close down all its gaming machines in the province until the issue has been resolved. CEO Harald Neumann told InterGaming: “This decision is based on a careful weighing up of judicial considerations, economic strategies and corporate policies.
Read the full article in the March issue of InterGaming
