Who organizes Euromillions in Switzerland?

Euromillions is an international lottery that can be played in the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland. Because several countries are participating, the number of participants is higher. Accordingly, the jackpot is also bigger. The lottery play in Switzerland is possible since October 2004.

Swisslos

Playing in Switzerland is enabled by 2 private companies. The first is Swisslos, an intercantonal national lottery. It includes the cantons of German-speaking Switzerland and Ticino. Swisslos is a cooperative founded in 1937. It comprises 20 Swiss cantons and the Principality of Liechtenstein. The cooperative employs more than 200 full-time employees. Apart from EuroMillions, a number of other lotteries can be played at Swisslos. Through the sale of the lottery tickets, the cooperative receives an annual average of about CHF 1 billion.

Of this, 600 million are distributed as profits, while just under 390 million Swiss francs are invested in various charitable projects. Since its foundation, Swisslos has already invested more than 6 billion Swiss francs for the common weal. More than 12,000 social, cultural, sports and environmental projects have been sponsored. This makes the cooperative the largest sponsor of charitable projects in Switzerland.

Loterie Romande

The second player to play EuroMillions Switzerland is Loterie Romande. The company was founded in 1937 and includes the French-speaking cantons Vaud, Friborg, Valais, Neuchâtel and Genéve. In 1979 the Canton of Jura was added. Loterie Romande offers various lotteries. As with Swisslos, most of the revenues are returned to the players as a profit. A large percentage of the profits go into the promotion of charitable projects. In 2014 alone, around 2,600 projects with a total of almost 140 million Swiss francs were supported in the six cantons of the canton of West Switzerland.

Considering the funds for non-profit projects, about 80 per cent go to the independent profit-sharing institutions of the 6 cantons being part of the Loterie Romand. 0.5 per cent of the remaining amount will be invested in a fund for the prevention of gambling, and the remaining funds will be provided for amateur and professional sports as well as horse breeding. The cantons support projects in the areas of social and senior citizens' care, education and youth work, culture, environment, education, research, tourism and a variety of other projects.

Everyone wins at the lottery

Of course, not every ticket can win, because in the lottery the principle of contingency decides who wins as much. However, even if the ticket is a blank, the general public gains through the numerous charitable projects supported by the Lotto companies.