Version: 110301
Editor: Franka Pals
Publisher: Novamedia
Disclaimer: Novamedia disclaims all liability for information provided within the "Novamedia European Gaming and Lottery Files". The information is supplied by independent journalistic sources. No parts of these files may be reproduced in any form by print, photo print, microfilm or otherwise, or re-distributed electronically in any form without written permission from the publisher.
The Federal Republic of Austria (Republik Oesterreich) is a so-called landlocked country, bordered by eight countries. Those neighbouring states are, clockwise from the North: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany.
After the second world war Austria lost its dominant position (Habsburg dynasty) in Central Europe. Austria's 1955 State Treaty declared the country "permanently neutral", which was forced by the Soviet military, who were still occupying Austria. After the Soviet collapse in 1991, Austria could enter the EU in 1995. International organisations such as the OSCE Secretariat, the International Atomic Energy Agency (AEA) and the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) were established in Vienna, the Capital of Austria, when there had not been any talk of leaving the 'permanently neutral' phase.
Just like the Bundes Republik Germany, Austria is also a Federal Republic with 9 states: Burgenland, Kaernten, Niederoesterreich, Oberoesterreich, Salzburg, Steiermark, Tirol, Vorarlberg and Wien.
Austria is, of course, worldwide wellknown for its skiing-holidays and skiresorts in the Alps. Twice the Winter Olympics were staged in Innsbruck, Austria, in the years 1964 and 1976. However, the greatest attraction in Austria is the Music and Theatre Culture. The business card of the 'land of Sissi' is, of course, their history and here and now of the Operas, Operettas, Ballets, the Vienna Boys' Choir, The Vienna Philharmonic, etc. Emperors, Kings, Generals and Princesses danced in the Wiener Opernhaus (Vienna's Operahouse) on Music of Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Joseph Haydn, Gustav Mahler, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, Arnold Schoenberg, Robert Stolz, Johann Strauß, the Father of Johann Strauß and Anton von Webern. Just to mention a few Austrian composers. Lovers of this romantic dancing may eat one's fill by watching to or attending at the 'Opernball', where the two hundred débutants are shown waltzing, yearly. Betting on them is not allowed.
Austria offers foreign investors, according to the Austrian Business Agency, a wide range of subsidies for small and mediumsized enterprises (SME's), research and development, company start-ups, investment and new technology.
Austrian accession to the European Union has brought an increase in the subsidies available. On the one hand, higher upper limits for subsidies apply within the re gional development areas and, on the other, co-financing is available in regions eligible for support from the EU Structural Funds.
The thresholds for aid payments to SME's are as follows:
The Austrian Stock Exchange, the Wiener Börse AG, is strengthening and expanding its leading role knowing that a stock market corresponds in size to the economy it serves. Wiener Börse AG has the intention to fully exploit the potential for new listings among small and mid-sized companies, and in particular, to raise the awareness and interest of individual investors for the investing opportunities of Austria's marketplace.
Wiener Börse AG has been expanding its range of offerings in many different fields over the past few years (BWIN is one of them). New products have been introduced and the services it offers have been enlarged and improved. An important step in this direction was taken when the internationally well-established computer trading system, Xetra, was launched in Vienna. This move increased the number of international market participants. A new company established jointly with other partners is EXAA (Energy Exchange Austria), Austria's new energy exchange.
Austria houses quite a few IT-orientated international companies. One of them is Scientific Games International in Vienna. So it is not so strange that fully commercial UMTS in Europe kicked off in Austria on September 26th. Mobile operator Mobilkom is set to extend the reach of its 3G network to service more than half of Austria's population by year-end 2003.
In Austria there are currently 1.5 million online banking customers. This e-banking system uses the EPS e-payment standard for online payments. The software uses the familiar TAN-codes online-banking already uses.
UPC Digital TV subscribers in Austria are to receive an interactive game platform from Zone4Play, an Israelian content applications developer of Interactive games on an array of platforms, that will allow them to participate in popular casino formats such as black jack, baccarat and video poker.
The formats are played using points balance method in a risk-free environment, and players acquire 'points-for-play' through a premium rate telephony system. A dynamic TOP 10 leader board will be refreshed to feature those players with the best point totals.
| Population: | 8,169,929 (July 2002 est.) |
|---|---|
| Age Structure: |
Suffrage: 18 years of age. |
| Currency: | Euro (EUR) |
| GDP: | GDP*: purchasing power parity - $220 billion (2001 est.) |
| Internet: | According to a study of SPECTRA Marktforschungsges.m.b.H. (October, 2002) the penetration of online households in Austria is 31%. Another study (August, 2002), made by Integral and Fessel-GfK. shows that 55% of Austria's adult population are online. That means 3.7 million Austrians over the age of 14 years, have access to Internet. |
| Telephones: | FESSEL-GfK, Austria's leading market research institute, shows that the mobile penetration in Austria is 71 % (December, 2002). In the 20-24 year olds' group the penetration is even up to 95%! The study shows that 4.7 million Austrians over 15 years old now own a mobile phone. |
The legal foundation of the introduction of 4 the Lotto, Toto and Substitute Game (Zusatzspiel) was created when the 'Novelle zum Glücksspielgesetz' (BGBl. Nr. 292 vom 6. Juni 1986), Novella (a modification of the law) for the game of chance legislation, came into power. Immediately after the 'Toto-Lotto-Project-Development-Company requested for a concession on June 11th, 1986. On July 2, 1986, the establishment of the 'Österreichischen Lotto Toto Gesellschaft m.b.H.', Austria's Lotto Toto Company, was established.
The Government proposed first (on January 1st, 1997) the following: "This 'Novelle' will protect the interests of the Federal state's Game of chance monopoly, especially the regulated political aims and it will prevent the illegal entry to the Austrian Gaming market and particularly all the new technical developments."
In the following discussions in Parliament the Novelle was altered in: "With the introduction of this Novelle new marketplayers, who want to offer new technologies and whom are not respecting the legislation on the game of chances, will be made impossible to offer their products.
The new version of the Gaming Law, Glücksspielgesetzes, (BGBI. Nr 620/89, dated from December 21st, 1989) caused a shake-up in the gaming market. New Concessions for operating 'Brieflos', Zahlenlotto 1-90 and the Österreichischen Klassenlottery could be given to the Austrian Lottery.
In 1995 scratchcard could be introduced. The two new products were: 'Cash' and 'Schatzruhe' (treasury).
In 1997 Lottos' '6 out off 45' and now twice a week there was a 'Joker' draw. The site Webclub.at was launched in December 1998 and started with the games via internet: 'Schatzinsel' (treasure island) and 'Penalty.
Electronic Lotteries are according to § 12a of the 'Glücksspiegesetzes', Law on Game of Chance, lottery draws, whereby the parties make an agreement via electronic media. The decision on winning or loosing will be announced and the player can immediately after playing the game be informed on the gaming results.
'Keno' was according to § 12b of the Law on Games of Chance introduced, but was only allowed to be offered via the Internet site WebClub.at.
Bingo was introduced in November 1999. In 1949, the establishment of Toto, it was laid down in the 'Sporttoto-Gesetz', Sporttoto-Law, that 83% of the net-profit of the Sporttoto should be remitted to sports organisations and - activities.
An alteration of the Sporttoto legislation in 1970 (§ 20) took place and it came into power from 1971 that the complete net profit of the toto should benefit all sports activities. To be able to keep on financing the sports activities in Austria, a new paragraph was included in the Novelle of Gaming Law of 1986. The yearly remittance to the 'sports' was fixed at EUR 22.60 million.
In 1996 and 1999 new Novellas were promulgated. The youngest Novelle shows that from 1999 through 2002 the total amount spent on sports should be raised per year with 3.5%. This means that in 2002 EUR 36.34 million was paid out to the Austrian sports activities.
From 1949 till 2001 in total more than 690 million Euro has been used to support sports activities.
Beneficiary: Bundesministerium für Finanzen (Federal Republic, Ministry of Finance).
In Austria all sportsbetting products, with the exception of toto (pools), do not fall under the 'Glücksspielmonopol' (Gaming monopoly). Licenses for sportsbetting may be obtained from the separate Bundesländer, states.
Websites: www.lotterien.at (information on the Österreichischen Lotto Toto Gesellschaft m.b.H. & a service site) and www.webclub.at (to play online). Wap: http://wap.lotterien.at.
From January, 2001 players can order and buy via their mobile, through the Austrian Lottery's WAP-Portal, tickets for '6 out off 45' and 'Joker'. The 'Österreichischen Lotterien' claims that this service, participating in the Lotto via WAP, was the first one of its kind in Europe.
The first Number Lotto (Zahlenlotto) in Austria, Vienna, took place more than 250 years ago. To be more precise: on October 21st, 1752. Lotto di Genova was the precursor of the '1-90' Austrian Number lottery. In 1519 according to history, the lottery system was developed by senator Benedetto Gentile in Genua.
The introduction in Austria of the Lotto came via a patent in hands of Empress Maria Theresias on November 13th, 1751. The Italian Aristocrat Conte Ottavia di Cataldi was the then rightsholder of the "Lotto di Genova" and he licensed this Lotto concept for a licensefee of 260,00 Gulden pro year!
During a period of 21 years the Zahlentoto took place via a private operator. Under the reign of Josef II the Lotto became a state affair from 1773. In 1813 Emperor Franz I via ordained that the 'Lotto-patent' was expired. The Statelottery got a new legislation which spanned to 1986, when the law was changed.
On July 2nd, 1985 the founding of the 'Toto-Lotto-Projektierungsgesellschaft G.m.b.H. took place. This company should introduce Lotto in Austria and take over the Sporttoto from the 'Österreichischen Glücksspielmonopolverwaltung' - should score pretty high in Scrabble! -, the Austrian Game of Chance Monopoly Board'.
In 1988 two new lottery gaming products were introduced: 'Torwette' and 'Joker'.
It was the wish of the Minister of Finance (Bundesministers für Finanzen), Dr. Herbert Salcher, that the Österreichischen Lotterien became a private operator, which came through on January 1st, 1990.
In May 1991 there was a relaunch of the Austrian lottery company. The number of products was reduced from 12 to 7. And prizes were made more attractive. In 1993 three lotteries pro week took place: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
On December 18th, 1948 the Austrian National Council decided to introduce the Toto legislation and on October 23rd, 1949 the first Toto sportsbetting took place.
In the Twenties in England, the cradle of Football, bookmakers arranged betting on the result of football matches. Sweden and Switzerland (Basler Toto) copied the 'betting on sports'-idea. And so did Austria as well. After the World War II, funds for amateur sports activities and sports accessories were urgently needed. The introduction of the sports totalisator generated income for the sports associations. The toto was a pool system with 12 football matches, the mother of all sportsbetting products.
In the summer, when there was no football, one could bet on the outcome of horse races. This was from 1953 till 1966, the year that the Intertoto, betting on the outcome of an European football league, was introduced.
The 25th anniversary was celebrated with the introduction of automatic handling of the betting slips and paying out the price money.
From 1981 the toto started to work with a Jackpot, which was created by cumulating the prize money in the different classes, where no one made the correct prognostication.
With the introduction of the Lotto '6 out off 45' in 1986, the Austrian Gaming market had to be reorganised. The Toto operated by the Austrian Gaming Monopoly Board was detached and transferred to the the (then) Österreichische Lotto Toto Gesellschaft m.b.H. On October 3rd, 1991, the company's name changed in : 'Österreichische Lotterien Gesellschaft m.b.H.'
Also the law had to be altered concerning the Game of Chance. In § 20 of the law on Game of Chance a new regulation was inserted, including that yearly the sports organisations would acquire a fixed yearly fee, which was guaranteed by the Ministry of Taxation.
The Österreichischen Lotto Toto Gesellschaft m.b.H. was established in Vienna at July 2nd, 1986.
The shareholders of Österreichischen Lotterien are:
The shares holders of Lotto-Toto Holding Gesellschaft m.b.H. are:
The Österreichischen Lotterien has a 18 men (and women) strong Board of Supervisory Directors and a Board of 4 Directors.
| Registered Capital: | 110 million | |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover: | 1,241.9 million (2000: 1,182.0; +5.07%) | |
| From that: | ||
| Lotto '6 aus 45': | EUR 677 million | 64.52% |
| Toto und Torwette: | EUR 20,6 million | 1.65%) |
| Zahlenlotto 1-90: | EUR 6.8 million | 0.55%) |
| Bingo: | EUR 14.5 million | 1.17% |
| Joker: | EUR 151.6 million | 12,20% |
| Rubbellos: | EUR 179.9 million | 14.48% |
| Brieflos: | EUR 34.4 million | 2.7% |
| Österreichische Klassenlotterie: | EUR 63.7 million | 5.13% |
| WebClub.at: | EUR 93.5 million | 7.53% |
| Total Tax remittance: | EUR 402.3 million | |
| Game related remittance: | EUR 389.7 million | |
| From that: | ||
| Betting costs: | EUR 160.5 million | |
| Consession Fee: | EUR 229.3 million | |
| Total paid out prize money: | EUR 610 million | |
| Benificiary to the sports | EUR 34.9 million | |
| Total Staff: | 402 |
50% from the betting lay in is paid out as prize money
Since 1986 the Austrian Republic received more than € 4.57 Milliard in the form of taxes.
Concession fees:
In spring 2000 the Österreichischen Lotterien and the Casinos Austria AG together with a media partner founded the Österreichische Sportwetten Gesellschaft (Austrian Sportsbetting Company). The participants are:
The 'Entertainment Glücks- und Unterhaltungsspiel Gesellschaft' holds 56 % of the shares of Österreichische Sportwetten Gesellschaft. Other shareholders are:
To obtain a sportsbetting license in Austria, via the 9 states of the Federal Republic, is a quite easy administration procedure. So, it was a peace of cake, that the Österreichische Sportwetten, could start on August 24th, 2002, with its first sportsbetting product 'Tipp3', an oddset concept with fixed quotes. It started with betting on football only, but now it is possible to bet on Icehockey results as well.
In 2001 36 betting programmes were offered. The turnover coming from tipp3 for 2001 was 28.26 million Euro.
Lotto '6 out off 45' is the money generator of the Österreichischen Lotterien. Winning chances are:
Turnover was in 2001 677 Euro (+3.3 %). Share of the total gaming product line: 54.52%.
'Toto' and 'Torwette' is betting on results of matches and number of goals scored (Torwette, betting on goals). Toto is the prognostication on the results of twelve (football)matches of one league round. '1' is win home team, 'two' is win for the away playing team and 'x' is a draw.
Torwette is the prognostication of the results in goals of the first four matches of one playing round.
The 'Hat trick' is an extra winning possibility without paying extra money. The player has to guess the 12 Toto results of the matches correctly, as well as four correct results in goals of the same toto betting slip.
Winning chances are:
Payout to players:
Toto
Torwette
Extra Toto Rounds are played around European Cup matches, Qualification matches for the European and World Championships, or around national league of other European countries. In 2001 36 Extra Toto rounds were organised.
The Turnover of Toto, including Extra Toto in 2001 was 19.40 million Euro. The Turnover of Torwette (including Extra Torwette) was 1.14 million Euro.
It is clear that the Toto Pools system in the whole of Europe is at its end of its life-cycle. In the look-alike sportsbetting industry a new product should be introduced. Nowadays a sparkling, more juvenile sportsbetting product is available adapted to a more individualised society: ToTopscorer. Clubs may loose but topscorers are always winners.
The numberLotto, 'Zahlemlotto 1 – 90', is believed to be the oldest lottery which was licensed to the Austrians by the Italians. The nowadays draws take place on every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The results of the draws are broadcast on the public broadcaster ORF 2.
Five numbers are drawn out of 90. The players lay in is from 0.73 Euro unto 363,36 Euro (How long will it take before all the lottery prizes will be round numbers in Euros again?) The highest possible win is 5,000 time of the lay-in.
In 2001 the turnover of the Zahlemlotto was 6.8 million Euro, 0.55% of the total product line.
'Bingo' was introduced in November, 1999. The aim of the game is to cross as many numbers (1-75) on your Bingo card. The numbers are drawn in a Bingo TV show, which is broadcast every Saturday from 18.25 hrs by the homebroadcaster ORF 2, which is also the shareholder of the Österreichischen Lotterien.
The winning possibilities are (besides 'Bingo'):
Bingo is a Totalisator Game, which means that the height of the won prizes are related to the total lay in and the total of winning prizes. Only with 'Card' it pays out a fixed winning quote of 1.45 Euro.
The Turnover in 2001 of Bingo was 14.5 million Euro, with a product share of 1.17%.
One may play 'Joker' by crossing 'yes' at a filled-in betting slip of Bingo, Lotto, Toto or Numberlotto. When the number of betting slip corresponds with the drawn Joker Number then the main prize has been won.
Winning chances are:
The turnover in 2001 of joker was 151.6 million Euro. Share: 12,20%.
In February 1995 the the 'Rubbellos' was introduced with the scratchcard games: 'Cash' and 'Schatztruhe' (Treasury). In 2001 four new scratch card games were introduced:
* Gaming-on-Card. From short-odds to long-odds in the instant scratchcard products!
The other scratch products in 2001 were:
'Brieflos', letter ticket, is a small envelope, which one has to pull open to see the lottery number. Brieflos was transferred on January 1st, 1990, from the 'Österreichischen Glücksspielmonopolverwaltung' to the Österreichische Lotterien. With the relaunch the product was given a new image. Part of this relaunch was a second win chance via 'Wheel of Fortune'.
A Brieflos series contains 6.6 million tickets with 1,860,424.55 Euro. The Turnover of Brieflos in 2001 was 34.4 million Euro. The winning chance of Brieflos is 39,1% of the turnover. However in combination with 'Wheel of Fortune' Brieflos TV-Show the total percentage is 40,9%.
The "Österreichische Klassenlotterie" moved also in May, 1990 from the 'Österreichischen Glücksspielmonopolverwaltung' to the 'Österreichische Lotterien'. At that moment the 130st episode of the Austrian Class Lottery started. Since the 150th version every day Euro 72,672,83 Euro can be won and the last, main draw creates a prizewinner who can put an extra 3,633,641.71 Euro on his or her bank account.
Pro Lottery in total 97,672,289.12 Euro is paid out to the prizewinners. One lottery exists out of 6 Classes. There are 200,000 tickets. The price for a whole lot pro class costs 145,35 Euro.
The Turnover of the Klassenlotterie in 2001 was 63.7 million Euro.
On December 14th, 1998, WebClub.at was launched with two Internet games:
In 2000 the following products were introduced via WebClub.at:
After introduction of the above games at WebClub.at a grouping was made with the following three themes:
Electronic Lotteries are according to § 12a of the 'Glücksspiegesetzes', Law on Game of Chance, lottery draws, whereby the parties make an agreement via electronic media means. The decision on winning or loosing will be announced. The player can immediately after the draw be informed on the gaming results.
The turnover of WebClub.at was in 2001 93.5 million Euro. That is a spectacular growth of 703.8 % compared with 2000.
The Österreichischer Buchmachers' Verband, Austrian Bookmakers' Association, was established in 1994. The association set up the General Regulations of the Austrian Bookmakers' Association (see attachment), to give a guideline for its members and players. And the logo gives a certain quality tag.
Members are:
As stated before, to acquire a bookmaker license in Austria is a Piece of Cake. Therefore one sees many licensed bookmakers companies in Austria. The bookmakers' products are nearly all the same: a-lookalike market. Many of those sportsbetting products are at the end of their life cycle. A new sportsbetting product also based on a totalisator -no risks- has been developed to replace the mother of all sportsbetting: the pools. This new product comes with a tilting and great Jackpot!
Because there are so many bookmakers in Austria offering the same product, we will not mention all the bookmakers established in Austria. We have selected several type of bookmakers and we will highlight several different aspects of the bookmaking business.
Some international 'Bookmakers' are collecting licenses like cows in a cattle. Underneath we mention quite a few combined licenses 'Austria & Gibralter' and Gamebookers acquired a UK, an Austrian and an 'Antigua & Barbuda' license. Any relation with Ladbrokes initiative to lobby the European Court of Justice to change the EU law regarding cross border betting? Free trade is the basic principle of the EU, however this does not account (yet) for the protectionism of the monopoly gambling operators. So, Austria could become a new springboard for the bookmakers to invade the EU. That is of course when the European Court of Justice decide to change the national laws.
Websites: www.betandwin.com, www.triple-a-casino.com, wap.betandwin.com
The BetandWin.com Interactive Entertainment AG was established in Austria in 1999 and was brought to the Austrian Stock Exchange (BWIN) in 2000. First day of trading was March 27, 2000. BETand-WIN.com Interactive Entertainment took over AG Simon Bold (Gibraltar) Ltd. in June, 2001, and the company was renamed BAW International Ltd and is registered in Gibraltar.
Simon Bold has more than 26 years experience in the international betting industry. As founder and main shareholder of Liverpool-based Mawdsley Bookmakers (more than 40 betting offices, 200 employees and yearly turnover of more than EUR 32 million), he was the first to introduce largescale betting via "debit card" in 1989. In 1991, he sold most of his bookmaking business to the listed company Stanley Leisure PLC. Simon Bold is now the Managing Director BAW International Ltd.
BAW International Ltd., the operating company of www.betandwin.com, has European sports betting and casino licences issued in Gibraltar under the official supervision of the Government of Gibraltar.
The company claims that every day some 2,000 bets on more than 15 different sports are set and has a customer base of 400,000, coming from 200 different nationalities. Betting via internet, SMS and WAP. In June, 2002, according to BetandWin's press information, the world's first, fully integrated (into a telcos billing system) SMS betting service for real money bets was launched.
The betandwin Gaming Group is a public company licensed in Austria (EU) as well as Gibraltar (EU) and is listed on the Vienna
Stock Exchange. The company is therefore governed by strict gaming regulations and an established international stock exchange.
BAW International Ltd., was granted an annually renewable license (license number 5) for the negotiation of sports bets at fixed odds. Moreover, BAW International Ltd. also holds a license (limited to five years, for the time being) for the operation of an online casino based on the license for the offer and negotiation of sports bets granted in 1999.
A license for the professional placement and closure of sport event bets was granted by the government of Vienna, a 'province' of Austria, (License Notification 1a 521/1/98).
In the first nine months of 2002, betandwin.com generated betting and casino turnover of Euro 161,321 million. This compared with a betting turnover Euro 38,414 million in the same period of 2001 and represented an increase of EUR 122,907 million, or 320%. Betting turnover for the first nine months was Euro 66,348 million and casino turnover Euro 94,973 million (casino turnover has only been generated since 2001).
Sportwetten GmbH began in September 1990 in Vienna with a telephone betting service for soccer and ice hockey bets. In February 1997 Interwetten became one of the pioneers in the branch with regards to offering sports bets on Internet.
In the summer of 2000 Interwetten Sportwetten GmbH (Ltd.) became Interwetten AG (plc). The operational side of the betting was transferred to the 100% subsidiary Interwetten Cyprus Ltd. The international sports betting platform Interwetten.com, one of the founder members of the Austria bookmakers association, continued its upward trend and achieved a records turnover of 82 million Euros in 2001 and 120 million Euro in 2002. "This result speaks for itself. We have continuously built up our business and made particularly impressive strides forward on an international level," says CEO Wolfgang Fabian to this record result. Interwetten.com now enjoys over 140,000 registered users, coming from 80 countries. In 2002 3.2 million bets were placed and the site was visited an average of 35,000 times a day. By then of 2002 35 employees were working for Interwetten Cyprus Ltd.
1990 Wolfgang Fabian founds Interwetten Sportwetten GmbH in September 1990 and receives a state-license for sports bets. The telephone betting service for football and ice hockey soon establishes Interwetten as one of the betting companies in the Germanspeaking world.
Number of employees: 3
1997 Heinz Patzelt 1988. He learnt the ropes working for a well known London bookmakers. At the start of 1997 Interwetten gave Heinz Patzelt, who started to work from 1988 in the London bookmaking business, the job of creating and internet betting platform and has played a highly significant role in the success of the online betting business. As chairman he took over the task of planning strategic marketing, in 2000. He has been the Chairman of the Interwetten AG board since August 2002. Interwetten Sportwetten was one of the first companies in the business to offer Internet betting. The number of sports on offer is increased to include the main American sports, Formula 1 and tennis.
Number of employees: 10
2000 Interwetten Sportwetten GmbH is being transformed into Interwetten AG, and the betting business handed over to Interwetten Cyprus Ltd, a 100% affiliate. In 2000 Interwetten generated a total turnover figure of around 57 million Euros.
Number of employees: 22
2001 The annual turnover of 82 million Euros makes the year 2001 the most successful year in company history.
Number of employees: 30
2002 Betting turnover of more than 120 million Euros. Interwetten.com starts a cooperation with DSG Deutsche Sportwett Gesellschaft m.b.H. on January 8th. On May 29th a new betting system combined with a modern design with a high functionality website was launched. Company founder, Wolfgang Fabian, handed over chairmanship of the board to marketing boss, Heinz Patzelt, in August 2002, in turn taking on the head supervisory role within the Interwetten AG.
Number of employees: 35
2003 New Interwetten.com website online (February 10th) with a speedier bet submission and a clearer and more simple navigation.
Gamebookers Founded in 1998, is an international betting group headquartered in St. John's, Antigua & Barbuda with subsidiaries in London, UK and Graz, Austria. The Austrian License was obtained on October 16, 2002, from the government of the Province of Styria. In early 2000, Gatcombe Park Ventures Limited, London, came on board as an investor and in June 2000 gamebookers was up and running. In 2000 the local subsidiaries in the UK and Austria were acquired to gradually transform the gamebookers group from an offshore into an onshore bookmaker. Gamebookers offer a fully international sports betting service integrated with a wide range of information and entertainment features.
Customers: 59,000 (12/02)
No. of bets: 8.5 million Euro (2002)
Page Impressions: 17 million (per month)
Visitors: 700,000 (month)
Group employees: 41
Turnover 2002: 76 million Euro
*Source: gamebookers internal statistics
Gamebookers (UK) Ltd., the UK unit, holds a Bookmakers Permit granted by the Betting Licensing Committee of the Haringey Petty Sessions Area under the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act and is regulated by the laws of the United Kingdom.
Permit No: BP44
Active since: January 3, 2003
Gamebookers GmbH, the Austrian unit, is regulated by the laws of Austria and licensed by the government of the Province of Styria in accordance with Austrian betting legislation.
Permit No: FA7C-2-5.3 G/51-02/2.
Active since: October 16, 2002.
Gamebookers Ltd., the international unit, is regulated by the Free Trade & Processing Zone and the Financial Services Regulatory Commission of Antigua & Barbuda. Gamebookers has the distinction of having acquired the "preferential seal of approval" licence status.
Licence No: 2018.
Active since: April 1, 2000
The Holding Company of Gamebookers Ltd., Gatcombe Park Ventures Ltd. is based in London and was founded in 2000. GPV has an International oriented eCommerce investment philosophy.
Besides Gambookers other investments are:
The Venture was financed by Swiss based Beisheim Holding Schweiz (owning over 35% of the share capital) - a sister company of Metro Holding, one of the world's largest retail groups. Web: www.gpventures.co.uk.
From its foundation in 1991 Admiral Sportwetten AG can look back on a period of dynamic growth. This development is closely linked to Novomatic AG: the leading supplier of gambling hardware and software worldwide currently has 72.49% holding in Admiral Sportwetten AG. The investment strength and know-how of the parent company constitutes a solid foundation for Admiral Sportwetten.
Novomatic is a leading provider of hardware and software solutions across the world for the international gambling and betting industry. Novomatic operates casinos throughout the world and develops new ideas for gambling as well as IT solutions for its international partners. Today, the Novomatic Group operates and has offices in over thirty countries across the world. The Corporate Headquarters are in Vienna.
The Majority shareholder is Johann F. Graf. In 2001 2,000 employees were working world wide, of which 750 in Austria. The turnover of the whole group was in 2001 255 million Euro. (www.novomatic.com)
Ownership structure of Admiral Sportwetten AG, after IPO:
72.49% – Novomatic Casino & Automatentechnik GmbH Berlin (a 100% subsidiary of Novomatic AG)
0.55% – Management and employees 3.69% – Private and institutional investors, supervisory board
23.27% – Diversified holdings
Number of employees in 2001: 122.
Betting possibilities:
Daily live broadcasts are shown from English horse and greyhound-racing events, Irish horse-racing, French trap and gallopracing and German trap-racing. Various bets, such as win bets, second and third place bets and so on provide maximum excitement.
In Austria there are 47 Admiral betting shops.
| (EUR x 1,000) | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betting turnover (excl. partner undertakings) | 74,096 | 81,359 | 52,159 | 43,698 |
| Winnings paid out | -59,041 | -67,764 | -40,026 | -32,157 |
| Gross profit | 15, 0 55 | 13, 595 | 12,133 | 11, 541 |
| Gross profit in % | 20.32% | 16.7% | 23.3% | 26.4% |
| EBIT | -4,738 | -1,123 | 1,090 | 1,547 |
| Ordinary business result* | -3,457 | -787 | 1,510 | 1,734 |
| EBITDA | -3.237 | -72 | 1,913 | 2,290 |
| Cashflow fr. business activity | -562 | 1,459 | 2,483 | 2,081 |
| Average number of employees | 135 | 113 | 99 | 87 |
| Number of branches (including partner undertakings) | 57 | 47 | 36 | 32 |
Bet-at-home.com is officially licensed to operate as a sporting bookmaker and was founded with premises in Wels , Austria in 1999.
Grün Weiss Sportwetten (Green White Sportsbets) is located in, and got its license from the Province of Steiermark (Styria) and has been active in the betting business since 1994. They have five Offices and partner betting cafés in Austria .
GWbet.com's provides (combinable) betting options on:
Casino legislation in Austria is a part of the Glücksspielgesetz – GSpG 1 (Game of Change Law) and the '1Bundesgesetz v. (Federal law) dated November, 28th, 1989 (BGBl. Nr. 620/1989), which was altered from June 26th, 2001, (BGBl. I Nr. 59/ 2001) by Art. XIX of the Euro-Tax Law.
Only The Federal Ministry of Finances is allowed to grant a Concession for a Casino, as is written in §21. A concession can, a.o., only be granted to a Public private company (A.G.), which is established in Austria. Above that company should a.o. be fit and proper and should have the disposal of 22 million Euro. Furthermore a concessionaire should have know how and experience in the Casino industry. A Bundesland, state, and the municipality where the Casino should be established, has certain basic rights to block the establishment of a casino. Only 12 casino concessions may be granted.In a Municipality not more than one casino is allowed. § 22 tells that a concession can not last longer than 15 years.
Visitors have to be at least 18 of age and should be able to show an official identity paper. And according to § 25, on visitors, the management of the casino is allowed to block without any reason the entrance of a visitor. According to § 27 employees should have an EU nationality.
§ 28 is on the casino tax:
The Concessionaires do not pay any other taxes, neither state or municipality taxes!
The Ministry of Finance acts as controller and regulator.
Casinos Austria AG, the group's parent company, was formed in 1967 at the bidding of the Austrian Government. The company took over existing casino operations as well as the task of expanding gaming related activities in a manner consistent with the country's national tourism and economic goals.
Casinos Austria is a leading national and international gaming company with numerous locations in Austria and other countries offering gaming in a stylish ambience.
Casinos Austria AG is managing the twelve Casinos in Austria:
The Austrian casinos offer international table games: French roulette, American roulette, baccarat, (chemin de fer), blackjack (twentyone), wheel of fortune, red dog, sic bo, European seven eleven, poker and slot machines.
CAI is a casino project development and management company with operations all over the world. Established in 1977, CAI has opened over 200 casinos in 25 different countries, including casinos on 80 cruise ships, and has evaluated 1.000 projects in nearly every country in the world. With the Austrian Mint and several Austrian banks and insurance companies as key shareholders, CAI enjoys a solid financial backing for its international activities.
At present CAI has over 8.000 employees from 35 different nations and is currently active in Argentina, Australia, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Hungary, India, the Palestinian Authority, Rumania, South Africa, Switzerland and Venezuela.
CAI's history in a nutshell:
2002
2001
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1999
1998
1997
1994
1993
1992
1991
1990
1989
1981
1977
1968
1967
1934
Casinos Austria International (CAI), the international arm of the Casinos Austria-Group, has been active in the international gaming industry since its foundation in 1977. After assisting the Dutch Government in the setting up of Casinos Holland in 1976, CAI recorded a major success in 1981 with the opening of the first casino behind the "Iron Curtain" in Budapest , Hungary . In the same year CAI also entered the cruise vessel market, having won the contract to install and manage a casino operation on board the SS Norway.
In the over 20 years of its existence, CAI has expanded world-wide to become a global player in the international gaming industry, having since opened a total of more than 200 casino operations in 25 countries, of which 80 on cruise ships. At present, CAI is involved in casino operations in: Argentina , Australia , Canada , Croatia , the Czech Republic , Denmark , Egypt , Hungary , India , the Palestinian Authority, Rumania , South Africa , Switzerland and Venezuela .
For its partners CAI offers basically three business venture possibilities. CAI's partners benefit from the company's years of experience in the industry by signing a know-how contract with CAI. Within the context of a management contract CAI provides everything from expert solutions for existing casino projects to turn key operations, tailor-made to its partner's specifications. In most of its projects CAI has a direct stake in the casino in question by establishing a joint operating company with its local partners or by forming a consortium which runs the casino.
With a view towards staying one step ahead of its competition, CAI also provides expertise in the fields of security/surveillance and technological innovation. CAST Casinos Austria Sicherheitstechnologie GmbH, is dedicated solely to the task of casino security and surveillance by providing tailormade state-of-the-art security and surveillance concepts. CARD Casinos Austria Research and Development GmbH, is responsible for developing technology and equipment which facilitates the operations of the individual games, saving valuable time, making the games more profitable and eliminating errors. Innovations include a high-tech chip counting and sorting machine and a highly efficient card shuffling device.
In order to provide updated and reliable information to the public in a user-friendly manner, CAI went online in 1999 at www.caicasinos.com. In addition, CAI has launched its very own Intranet system, known as the Global Knowledge Network (GKN), aimed at optimising communications between CAI's vast network of operations world-wide. All CAI casinos are linked via the Internet to the GKN which functions as a clearinghouse for management information and a vehicle for sharing success stories on the company's homepage.
In 1976 the forerunner of Casinos Austria International Holding GmbH was established to help the company to expand internationally and to control the interests of European casinos.
In 1991 Casinos Austria International Holding GmbH was founded in order to combine all international interests of the group under one umbrella:
Current Casino List Casinos Austria International Holding GmbH:
Argentina
Austria
Australia
Canada
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Egypt
Hungary
India
Romania
South Africa
Switzerland
Venezuela
Cruising Casinos
Discovery Cruise Line
Texas Treasure Day Cruise
Sea Dream Yacht Club
Radisson Seven Seas Cruises
Royal Olympic Cruises
Royal Olympic Short Cruises
As mentioned in this file before, the Austrian Law on Game of Chances is regulated in a strict monopolistic way. However any regulation or law has to face the creativity of mankind. So are 'cardgames without a bank' according to the law in Austria not illegal. Normally a visitor of a casino is always playing against the casino (bank), therefore the Casino has always a mathematical advantage to win more. This is not the case with the Concord Card Casino's, where Games of Chances like Roulette and Games of Skills (some poker games), can be played without a bank. CCC gives its members and visitors the occasion to play without a 'bank keeper', a croupier however may be used temporary.
In the Concord Card Casinos in Vienna there are 35 available tables, which are all connected with the central computer system. And video camera surveillance is in place.
Especially Poker (Seven Card Stud Poker and Texas Hold'em) and Concord Aces (a Black-Jack-Variante without bank keeper) are favourites games. There are also tables with Backgammon, Tarock, etc.
CCC was established in 1974 and opened its casino in Vienna , which became the biggest Card -Casino in Europa, on October 7th, 1993. The Casino is open 24 hours a day. There is also a branch in Linz (on a ship).