Gespa 2025 Evaluation Exposes Retail Age Verification Failures in Swiss Sports Betting
Gespa's 2025 review shows online player protections work but retail age checks fail, with nearly half of underage testers placing sports bets. Sports betting drives highest losses among young males. Swiss operators reported combined net profit of CHF814 million, down 4.7%.
SCCG Take — Retail age verification must improve via scanners and training to match online precision and reduce youth exposure to high-risk sports products before regulatory pressure increases.
Switzerland’s Intercantonal Gambling Supervisory Authority has identified effective online player protections alongside serious gaps in retail age controls. In its independent review of the required annual submissions from lottery operators, Gespa reported that nearly half of 200 underage mystery shoppers successfully placed sports bets at physical outlets. Self-service terminals proved more lenient than clerk-assisted sales. Online channels, by contrast, enable more precise application and assessment of safeguards.
The evaluation, conducted under Article 84 of the Federal Act on Money Gaming, covers Swisslos for German-speaking regions and Loterie Romande for Francophone areas. Sports betting under the Sporttip brand recorded the highest average net losses and the largest share of players exceeding CHF2,000 monthly. Bettors in this category skew younger and male, a demographic flagged as more vulnerable.
Retail Gaps Outpace Online Precision
Physical sales generated 76% of the operators’ gross gaming revenue in 2025, while online accounted for 24%. Average monthly net losses for active online players remained stable, ranging from CHF47 to CHF83 for Swisslos and CHF56 to CHF75 for Loterie Romande. Mandatory limits—including CHF2,000 and CHF900 loss caps plus a CHF10,000 deposit ceiling—were hit by few players: 0.23% to 1% reached the CHF2,000 threshold at least once. Automated early-warning systems flagged between 0.12% and 0.47% of active users. Temporary self-exclusions stood at roughly 0.6%.
Gespa noted that features such as cash-out in sports betting can encourage impulsive play and an inflated sense of control, requiring sustained attention. As reported by iGaming Business, the watchdog and operators are now discussing identity scanners for terminals, staff training, expanded mystery shopping, and blocking software recommendations.
Operator Adjustments and 2025 Financial Results
Loterie Romande switched to a Sustainable Interaction monitoring system that produces a seven-level risk score based on recent data and self-tests. Swisslos added deposit-flow warnings for a fifth deposit in one week, expanded blocking tools, and lowered the maximum monthly loss limit for Sporttip customers aged 18-21 to CHF1,000 from March 2026. Gambling bans rose to 76 for Swisslos and 65 for Loterie Romande, many following voluntary requests.
The operators posted combined net profit of CHF814 million in 2025, down 4.7% from CHF854 million the year before. Swisslos profit fell 5.7% to CHF562 million; Loterie Romande declined 2.3% to CHF252 million. These sums are distributed by cantons for public benefit. Swisslos will join a 2026-27 research project on banned-player behaviour, while a nationwide gambling survey is due in 2027.
Where the Risk Lies
Retail channels lag online systems in blocking underage access to the highest-risk product. Operators and Gespa must accelerate technical and training fixes before the next evaluation, or risk tighter limits on a format that already drives outsized losses among younger players.
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