Central Europe
Gambling industry of Austria in the scope of coronavirus

Gambling industry of Austria in the scope of coronavirus: what awaits the locals?
What started out as a contained threat somewhere in East Asia – turned out to be a world-wide threat. What we’re talking about, of course, is the coronavirus pandemic that caught the world’s attention. Practically everyone and everything is affected – even the gaming industry has experienced a serious impact. If you’re a visitor of some of the most popular online casinos in Austria, then you too may have some questions about how exactly the gambling industry is affected by the coronavirus. Read the rest of this article to find out.
The effects of Coronavirus on the gaming industry in Austria
It’s still too early to measure the full extent of the coronavirus impact on the Austrian gaming industry – especially given the fact that the pandemic still rages all around the world. But it’s safe to say that land-based casinos have gotten their fair share of profit-loss since the pandemic came out.
Namely, the Austrian authorities have implemented strict measures and now the Austrian casinos are closed. This includes all twelve of the Austrian Casinos that are spread all over the cities in Austria (from Baden to Zell am See).
It’s easy to see why this is the case. In extreme cases, there were even curfew measures introduced by the governments of the severely-affected countries. This means that people are still forced to stay at home until the pandemic gets cleared out – and it follows that they can’t go to the land-based casinos. But also – people are not much in the mood of visiting the online casinos, either.
So, Ute Schreiner, CMO & Product Adviser at CasinoNow Austria Portal, comments the following:
“The gambling industry is a long-term story. Keep calm – we work as usual and continue to review the most popular online casinos in Austria. The current situation is challenging, and online casinos will offer various tasty bonuses to visitors, striving to attract the newcomers and do everything to keep old players.”
How does the future look?
If you follow the news (I bet you do), then chances are that you have seen that the epidemic in East Asia has begun to subside. As more and more of the European countries – Austria included – begin to implement draconic measures to protect the people from the coronavirus – the situation is likely to be under control in the near future.
And this means that the economy will get back to normal – and people will start earning money once again, which, in turn means that the casinos will start to get more and more visitors in the near future. In an optimistic scenario – all of the casinos will reopen and the gaming industry in Austria will return to normal in the end of April 2020.
For now, suffice it to know that people are generally safe when they are in their homes. And if you have access to the internet – then this means that you can still enjoy playing your favorite gambling games – all from the safety of your home.
Online gaming
As it was mentioned by the local industry’s expert – the owners of the online casinos are doing their best to attract new customers and retain their old ones. Given the fact that people are, for the most part, afraid for their lives – it’s easy to see why they aren’t particularly inclined to do online gaming, among other things.
So, in our estimate, in the next six months the owners of online casinos will have to work extra hard to give the players an incentive to play. So, you can expect that there will be newer and bigger bonuses for the new players – in the form of deposit match and free spins. There will also be many other bonuses dedicated to capturing the attention of the current players. This is all good news – the players such as yourself will have an even bigger incentive to use the online casinos until the coronavirus pandemic is finally contained.
In conclusion
Whatever happens, we sincerely hope that the coronavirus pandemic will subside as soon as possible. There are indications that show that exactly this is the case – the number of people that are getting infected is getting reduced in various parts around the world. And, with the implementation of strict measures across the Europe, this trend is likely to continue.
Either way, you can still enjoy playing online gaming games in the relative safety of your home – and the new bonus offers will serve to attract your attention even more. The situation is pretty bad at the moment in terms of eGaming, but as soon as the pandemic stops – the Austrian casinos and eSports industry will start working its way towards full recovery.
Central Europe
Brightstar Lottery Upgrades Retail Central System for Lotto Saxony in Germany via New Seven-Year Contract

Brightstar Lottery PLC announced that it will deploy its comprehensive retail central system technology, Aurora, along with advanced cloud-based software for Sächsische Lotto-GmbH (Lotto Saxony) in the State of Saxony, Germany via a seven-year contract. The contract was awarded to Brightstar following a competitive public procurement.
“The quality and reliability of Brightstar’s world-class lottery technology and operational support, along with its team’s knowledge of Lotto Saxony’s business needs are some of the reasons why we have partnered with the Company for 30 years. We look forward to upgrading our central system to Brightstar’s sophisticated platform and the many benefits its components will produce,” said Herr Frank Schwarz, Lotto Saxony Chief Executive Officer.
“This new seven-year contract marks an exciting chapter for Brightstar and Lotto Saxony as we work together to modernize lottery solutions throughout the state. Brightstar’s high-performing central system and peripherals will enable Lotto Saxony to manage its business more efficiently with the confidence in knowing the technology is secure, dependable, and responsible,” said Marco Tasso, Brightstar Chief Operating Officer International and Italy Operations.
An integral part of OMNIA, Brightstar’s player-centric, omnichannel solution for lotteries, Aurora helps drive lottery innovation and profitability. The platform will provide intuitive, user-friendly applications, tools and reporting capabilities to handle Lotto Saxony’s transaction processing, game management and back-office operations. Lotto Saxony will receive key cloud-based Aurora products including, Anywhere, to securely connect external applications to the retail system, and Performance Wizard, to deliver targeted insights and analytics.
The post Brightstar Lottery Upgrades Retail Central System for Lotto Saxony in Germany via New Seven-Year Contract appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Central Europe
Interwetten becomes team partner of SK Rapid

Yellow and black meets green and white! Interwetten becomes SK Rapid’s new team partner. The online sports betting pioneer and Austria’s most popular football club are starting the new season together. The combination with Rapid coach Peter Stöger, who has been an Interwetten expert for many years and will also remain on the sidelines, makes the partnership a real success.
With more than 24,000 club members and over 220 official fan clubs, the Austrian record champions boast the largest fan base in the country! And with the Allianz Stadium in Vienna’s West Hütteldorf, the Green-Whites boast a modern home! Interwetten is expanding its extensive football commitment to include a traditional club and will now be present at SK Rapid’s home games on a ball display or 3D carpet in the stadium, as well as on the Hütteldorf club’s digital channels.
“We are very pleased about the new team partnership with SK Rapid. The connection to a club with great charisma and passion is a perfect fit for Interwetten. And the best part: With our long-time expert Peter Stöger, we already have Rapid’s coach on board ,” explains Interwetten Marketing Director Dieter Grück , who promises fans a comprehensive experience in addition to betting.
Grück adds : “We are planning various digital activations throughout the season that will offer our customers and Rapid fans unique experiences. This will certainly include exclusive promotions with Peter Stöger. With this, we want to underline our connection with Austrian football.”
SK Rapid Managing Director Steffen Hofmann warmly welcomes the sports betting provider to the green and white partner family. “This partnership is a strong signal and demonstrates the trust placed in our club. Together, we are planning innovative activations and are convinced that the collaboration will be very successful. I am delighted that Interwetten is now part of the large green and white partner family.”
The post Interwetten becomes team partner of SK Rapid appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Central Europe
Scientific Games and Polish National Lottery Continue 20-Year Scratchcard Tradition as Sales Grow

Scientific Games will continue to bring exciting instant scratchcard games to Polish National Lottery players through a new agreement with Totalizator Sportowy. Celebrating the instant lottery’s 25th anniversary last year, Totalizator Sportowy is among the top five performing instant game lotteries in Europe (La Fleur’s 2025 World Lottery Almanac). The world’s largest lottery games company has provided scratchcards to Totalizator Sportowy for more than 20 years, with scratchcard game sales in Poland growing by 20% over the past three years (2022 to 2025).
“Our goal is to give our players entertaining scratchcard experiences while responsibly generating maximum proceeds for Polish sport and culture. We are delighted to continue working with Scientific Games to offer fun, modern scratch experiences,” said Katarzyna Woznica-Borkowska, Manager of Instant Products for Totalizator Sportowy.
Most recently, Scientific Games collaborated with Totalizator Sportowy to offer Polish players the PLN30 GIGA 7 game produced with the company’s advanced Dimension technology, which enhances the play experience with three-dimensional, reflection-at-different-angle refractions above and below the game graphics.
Currently, the company provides instant games to 110 government-regulated lotteries worldwide, including more than 50 European lotteries.
“Scientific Games is honored to continue our longtime relationship with Totalizator Sportowy that we have built across two decades,” said Paul Dures, Lottery Sales Director EMEA for Scientific Games. “We look forward to continuing our work to drive meaningful growth for the scratchcard games in Poland creating more innovative and attractive games for players.”
With products that generate more than 70% of global instant game retail sales, Scientific Games is the world’s largest instant games creator, producer and services provider, and the primary provider to nine of the Top 10 performing instant game lotteries in the world (La Fleur’s 2025 World Lottery Almanac).
The post Scientific Games and Polish National Lottery Continue 20-Year Scratchcard Tradition as Sales Grow appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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