Gespa Says Swisslos and Loterie Romande Age Checks Fall Short in Retail
Gespa rates Swisslos and Loterie Romande online safeguards positive but says retail age checks fail, with minors placing sports bets in 47.5% of tests.
Gespa, Switzerland's gambling supervisory authority, said in an evaluation report dated 3 September 2026 that online player protection at lottery operators Swisslos and Loterie Romande was positive in 2025, but that retail age checks are not working satisfactorily.
The report reviews the annual effectiveness reports that both operators must file under Article 84 of the Federal Act on Gambling (LJAr). Gespa says the law does not require it to publish its own evaluation; it does so voluntarily and with the operators' agreement. The report is available in French and German.
Online protection rated positive, sports betting still the riskiest product
Gespa judges the 2025 online result as positive. It says some measures exceed the legal minimum and singles out mandatory loss limits with a maximum cap. Online represents 24% of the operators' gross gaming revenue (GGR), with land-based sales making up the other 76%.
Sports betting remains the highest-risk product, with bettors' losses higher than on other products. Average net annual loss on the Sporttip e-wallet was about CHF302, up from CHF279. Gespa welcomed Swisslos cutting the Sporttip maximum monthly loss limit for 18-to-21-year-olds to CHF1,000.
The report also gives a picture of heavier losses among active e-wallet users:
| Measure | Swisslos | Loterie Romande |
|---|---|---|
| Users with net e-wallet loss above CHF500 in at least one month | 4.10% | 4.10% |
| Users losing more than CHF2,000 in at least one month | 0.53% (3,467 players) | 0.54% (969 players) |
| Early-warning flags | 3,048 players (3,776 in 2024) | 220 players contacted |
Loterie Romande replaced its Playscan monitoring tool with one from Sustainable Interaction. The Federal Statistical Office will run an Omnibus survey in 2026, requested by the Federal Gaming Board (ESBK/CFMJ) and Gespa.
Retail test purchases expose age-control gaps
The sharper finding concerns physical outlets. The Blue Cross, a Swiss addiction-prevention organization, ran 200 test purchases for Gespa. The results were first released on 15 July 2026 and are cited again in the evaluation report.
| Test purchase result | Share of cases |
|---|---|
| Minor completed a sports bet (all 200 tests) | 47.5% |
| No age check made | 44.5% |
| Swisslos outlets, Zurich (100 tests) | 56.0% |
| Loterie Romande outlets, Vaud (100 tests) | 39.0% |
| Self-service terminals led to a bet | 66.7% |
| Staffed counters led to a bet | 44.5% |
Gespa stresses that the sample was targeted and not representative, so the numbers cannot be generalized. It still concludes that minor protection is, in its words, "currently not working satisfactorily". Both operators set the minimum age at 18 for all products, and Article 72 LJAr covers minor protection.
Gespa signals possible binding measures
Gespa has not imposed any measures yet. If further surveys confirm the finding, it reserves the right to order binding measures under its supervisory powers. It will commission new test purchases "in the near future", and the report says technical fixes at self-service terminals, such as ID scanners, are under discussion.
The focus on age verification echoes debates elsewhere in Europe, including calls from a former regulator for a uniform gambling age of 21 and a KSA chair's push for stronger responsible gambling measures in land-based casinos. Supervisors in other markets have also gained new tools, as with the Swedish regulator's expanded powers against excessive gambling.
What the operators are doing
The report lists measures by both lottery companies:
- Loterie Romande: 2,959 point-of-sale visits with no infringements found, according to its own figures, plus 832 test purchases of its own. Mandatory minor-protection training was rolled out, and all points of sale had completed it by January 2026.
- Swisslos: a November 2024 campaign asking staff to check ID for anyone who looks 18 to 25, a mystery-shopping exercise in five urban areas in January 2025, and a "Guess the Age" training tool added in 2026.
Exclusions under Article 80 LJAr, which lets operators bar players from gambling, increased at both companies:
| Operator | 2025 exclusions | 2024 exclusions | Self-requested in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swisslos | 76 | 39 | 45 |
| Loterie Romande | 65 | 56 | 49 |
The social-protection framework rests on Articles 76 to 84 LJAr and Articles 76 to 91 of the Gambling Ordinance (OJAr).
Legal dispute delayed the test-purchase report
The lottery companies challenged whether Gespa could publish the test-purchase report, which delayed release by several weeks. Gespa issued a formal decision that publication is lawful, citing its statutory duty to inform the public about its supervision. The companies did not appeal, so the decision is final.
Why it matters for operators
Swiss gambling supervision is split between lottery and sports betting oversight and the casino sector, where new 20-year casino licences took effect from 2025. The Gespa report shows the supervisor treating age verification at the point of sale as a compliance issue in its own right, with a stated route to binding orders. Operators with retail networks, including those running terminals, should expect further test purchases and scrutiny of unattended terminals in particular.
Status reviewed on 11 November 2026. Figures come from Gespa's 3 September 2026 evaluation report and its 15 July 2026 test-purchase release. More regulation news and EMEA coverage.
Frequently asked questions
What did Gespa find in the Swiss test purchases of sports bets?
The Blue Cross ran 200 test purchases for Gespa, 100 at Loterie Romande outlets in Vaud and 100 at Swisslos outlets in Zurich. Minors completed a sports bet in 47.5% of cases, and no age check took place in 44.5%. Gespa says the sample was targeted, so the results cannot be generalized.
Can Gespa order binding measures against Swisslos and Loterie Romande?
Yes. Gespa says it reserves the right to order binding measures under its supervisory powers if further surveys confirm the retail finding. It has not imposed any so far. It plans to commission new test purchases in the near future, and technical fixes such as ID scanners at self-service terminals are under discussion.
How did online player protection perform in Switzerland in 2025?
Gespa describes the 2025 online result as positive. Some measures go beyond the legal minimum, notably mandatory loss limits with a maximum cap. Online accounts for 24% of the operators' gross gaming revenue, while land-based sales account for 76%, which is why the retail age-control failures carry weight.
What is the minimum gambling age at Swisslos and Loterie Romande?
Both operators set the minimum age at 18 for all products. Article 72 of the Federal Act on Gambling (LJAr) covers the protection of minors. Swisslos has also lowered the maximum monthly loss limit for 18-to-21-year-old Sporttip players to CHF1,000, a change Gespa welcomed.
How many players were excluded from gambling in Switzerland in 2025?
Swisslos issued 76 exclusions under Article 80 LJAr in 2025, up from 39 in 2024, and 45 of them were self-requested. Loterie Romande issued 65, up from 56, with 49 self-requested. The figures appear in Gespa's evaluation report of operator effectiveness reports.
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