Swiss online gambling blacklists are gradually outgrowing the local casino revenue

As of last week, Switzerland’s federal gaming board (ESBK) added 46 new domains to its ever-expanding list of blacklisted sites, pushing the total number of sites to 218. This was ESBK’s first update after 2 months. As expected, many of the newly added sites are licensed in Curacao. Some notable mentions include Betclic Everest Group’s Bet-at-home brand, Interwetten, 5Dimes and Tonybet.
 

The Swiss Lottery and Betting Board (Comlot) also reported adding 13 new domains to their blacklist, bringing the total number to 114. Interwetten and Heritage Sports were among the names mentioned by the Comlot report. In an attempt to mitigate the situation, Swiss internet providers have been instructed to block access to all listed domains.
 

A dire situation for local operators 

On the other hand, the local casino revenue is not exactly soaring. Locally licensed casinos are saying that the returns from the state-authorized online casinos cover only a certain part of the loss caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Switzerland has only granted licenses for seven of their land-based casinos to this date. 
 

Only time will tell if the situation gets better for the legally operated online casinos in Switzerland. If the responsible boards act more decisively by identifying shady sites and taking them out of the equation, the local operators might have a real chance to turn the tide and boost their revenue in the long run.