Casinos Austria and Austrian Lotteries Group appointed Andreas Bierwirth as chief transformation officer, adding him to the group’s management board. Bierwirth will oversee digital development, group-wide process and project management, and the international casino business, the company said.
The appointment places digital development and international casino operations within a newly expanded management board role.
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Casinos Austria spokesperson Patrick Minar said establishing an independent gambling regulator in Austria would take six to 12 months, potentially pushing its creation beyond the government’s end-2026 target for a new gambling framework. National Council member Jan Krainer said the reforms were technically ready, but the full texts had not been published.
Allwyn has asked the European Commission to make Austria’s planned online gambling market opening conditional on supervisory systems being ready, and to defer it if needed. The draft sets 1 October 2027 for the new concessions to take effect; Allwyn says the systems and implementation work may not be ready in time, while supporting a controlled market opening in principle.
Allwyn has asked the European Commission to make Austria’s planned online gambling market opening dependent on the new supervision systems being ready, with a delay if they are not. In a submission dated 27 October, it called the nine months between the planned start of system rules and concessions taking effect an extremely tight schedule; the draft sets those dates as 1 January and 1 October 2027.
Allwyn has asked the European Commission to consider its concerns that Austria’s proposed online gambling market timetable leaves too little time to establish supervisory infrastructure. The draft law is provisionally scheduled to take effect on 1 January 2027, with new concessionaires potentially launching from 1 October; the Austrian Association for Betting and Gambling said it remained confident in the timetable.
Malta’s detailed opinion extended the EU notification period for Austria’s proposed gambling reforms to 7 December 2026, reportedly delaying the process beyond its expected 5 November end. Austria still aims to launch a competitive licensed market in October 2027, when Win2Day’s licence expires. The proposals would require online operators serving Austrian customers to cease that activity by 1 January 2027 to qualify for future licences.