Funding and Promotion of Sports

Funding of EUR 120 million each year makes us the most important financier of sports in Austria.

In the context of sports funding as enshrined in the Austrian Gaming Act, Austrian Lotteries makes a significant contribution to sports in Austria. The amount of money set aside for the funding of particular sports is also defined in the Gaming Act. The Bundes-Sportförderungsfonds (BSFF) administrates and distributes the funds according to a pre-defined allocation formula. Beneficiaries include ASKÖ, ASVÖ, UNION, the Austrian Football Association, the Austrian Olympic Committee, as well as numerous professional associations ranging from American football to water polo.

More than EUR 2 billion has benefited sport in this manner since 1986. Grassroots sport in particular benefits from this solidarity-based model. Any limitation of the funding would endanger the existence of many non-profit sports clubs.

Austria's 'Sporttoto Act' laid the cornerstone for this model in 1948. The purpose of Toto was to rebuild sport in Austria after the end of WW2. After Lotto was launched and Toto was taken over by Austrian Lotteries in 1986, a fixed percentage of sales was initially earmarked for sports funding. Article 20 of the Austrian Gaming Act defines a figure of at least EUR 120 million for sports funding each year. This amount increases annually in line with the gaming-related federal revenue of Austrian Lotteries.