A study done by economist Prof. DDr. Friedrich Schneider concludes that the gambling monopoly in Austria is neither in line with the market nor proportionate, as it cannot be justified either on the basis of market failure or player protection.
The members of the OVWG are denied legal protection in Austria due to the ongoing violation of the freedom to provide services and the right to a fair trial by the Republic of Austria. The OVWG therefore lodged a complaint with the European Commission on 10.1.2022 with the aim of initiating infringement proceedings against the Republic.
2021 was another year that will go down in history as "exciting" - be it due to the political earthquakes that occurred in Austria, the ever-present threat of lockdowns or the ongoing discussions surrounding compulsory vaccination.
Modern player protection software is capable of detecting potentially addictive behavior in online gambling and initiating measures if necessary. This ensures personal and individual protection for those affected. At an event organized by the Austrian Betting and Gambling Association (OVWG), international experts from science and industry discussed the topic of player protection and gambling addiction from psychological, medical and technical perspectives....
Austrian sports and the online gambling and betting industry have always been important economic partners. Every year, 100 million euros are invested in sponsorship and marketing in the Austrian sports and media landscape. These investments could be increased even further: Last year, we made a proposal for the introduction of a contemporary online gambling licensing system, in which additional revenues, such as any license fees, would be earmarked for grassroots and professional sports...
OVWG is a new partner of sportsbusiness.at!
Monopolies have often been justified under the belief that the state is better placed to protect its gamblers. But that’s why countries should have stringent consumer protection rules: it’s the rules that protect the consumer, not whether there is a monopoly or not....
In the study, the University of Vienna comes to the conclusion that the current advertising activities of the Austrian gambling monopolists create a strong incentive to gamble via various strategies. Furthermore, the experts from the University of Munich concluded that all of the monopolists' advertising strategies examined by the University of Vienna are highly problematic with regard to ECJ requirements and that the "gambling makes you rich" advertising strategy in particular is blatantly contrary to EU law....
According to the authors, the structure of the Austrian gambling and betting regulation largely contradicts the coherence requirement under EU law. In this respect, it is contrary to EU law and inapplicable....
When we subtitled the 2019 activity report "An exciting year in Austria", nobody expected that 2020 would bring a new dimension of excitement. Only three months later after we had published our last annual report, Austria was in lockdown...
