The City of Brussels awarded its new 15-year concession for the commune’s casino to ECK, the parent company of Napoleon Games, following a fresh assessment of the bids after a conflict-of-interest complaint. The new concession will begin on 1 July 2027.
Napoleon Games has welcomed the City of Brussels’ renewed decision to award it the concession to operate the Brussels casino, saying it wants to make the venue part of the city’s cultural, sporting and entrepreneurial life.
In comments issued through Belga on Thursday, Napoleon Games general manager Philippe Joos said he was very pleased that the city had “reaffirmed its choice to place its trust in the Napoleon Games project”.
Napoleon Games had originally won the contract in the initial bidding round. However, Casinos Austria, which currently operates the casino, filed a complaint with the Council of State about the role of Mayor Philippe Close (PS). Opposition council member Benoit Hellings (Ecolo/Groen) also complained about Close's role in the bid.
Hellings alleged a breach of the code of professional conduct and ethics, as Close did not abstain from the vote on the licence, despite holding a seat on the board of directors of football club RSC Anderlecht, which is sponsored by the Napoleon Games.
Belgium’s Council of State suspended the Brussels executive’s decision at the end of August. As part of the appeal procedure, the European Commission had to rule on whether all initial licence candidates complied with market regulation.
With the ruling due on 15 November, the current operating licence could have expired on 31 December, before a definitive decision was made, putting the 286 jobs at the Casino at risk. City of Brussels commune was forced to temporarily extend the licence, losing €3 million in revenue as part of the extension.
According to a statement from the city’s executive council seen by Belga, Brussels carried out a new analysis of the submitted bids while taking into account the Council of State’s criticism.
The commune’s executive council announced Thursday that it would grant ECK the licence after reassessing bids. The contract is valued at roughly €750 million and should bring in around €10 million a year for the municipality.
