Gespa finds retail age-check failures in Swiss sports betting review
Regulation1 min read
Gespa’s 2025 review found that nearly half of 200 underage test customers could place sports bets at retail outlets in Switzerland. The regulator said lottery operators’ player-protection measures generally work more effectively online, while it and the operators are examining technical solutions and have introduced staff training and stronger age checks.
Almost half of 200 underage test customers succeeded in placing sports bets at retail outlets during mystery-shopping exercises commissioned by the regulator. Staff-handled transactions were more restrictive than those at self-service betting terminals.
Gespa said Swisslos and Loterie Romande could implement and assess player-protection measures more effectively online than through retail networks. In 2025, online gambling accounted for 24% of the operators’ combined gross gaming revenue, with 76% coming from land-based channels.
Sports betting carried the greatest risk among product categories, with the biggest player losses and the highest share of customers losing over CHF2,000 a month. A small share of players hit the mandatory loss and deposit limits maintained by both operators in 2025. Swisslos and Loterie Romande together earned CHF814m in net profit in 2025, a 4.7% decrease from the previous year.
The findings belong to the regulator’s assessment of responsible gambling measures under the Federal Act on Money Gaming. More staff training and mystery-shopping exercises have been introduced, alongside improved age-verification tools. The regulator and operators are considering technical solutions such as identity scanning for self-service terminals.