The gaming industry in Austria has been shocked to learn of the death of Siegfried Dattl, CEO at TAB-Austria, one of the leading manufacturers of touchscreen games and specialist cabinets for sports betting, aged just 51.
Dattl died at his home in Ansfelden, in Upper Austria, close to the TAB factory in Linz. He had been in poor health for some time but his death last Friday, October 6, came as a great shock to the TAB workforce and to the entire industry.
The funeral is to take place in Linz on Friday, October 13.
He leaves both of his parents, Annemarie and father Siegfried who started the company 50 years ago, and a sister Elisabeth Puehringer.
“Sigi” Dattl took over the business from his father 20 years ago after working at TAB to learn about the industry. Under his guidance TAB became one of the leading suppliers of touchscreen games, with products such as the Silverball terminal, the Maxfire digital juke box and the Fun4Four upright four-player gambling game for amusement only.
A large diversion for the company came a few years ago when Dattl tied up a series of contracts to supply specialist sports-betting cabinets that were to be exported in their thousands to a number of markets, notably the UK and Spain. He also oversaw the development of a substantial gaming operation in South Africa.
InterGame partners David Snook and Christine Butterworth, who both know the Dattl family well, commented: “Sigi Dattl was enormously respected throughout the international market.
“He was a good businessman and a gentleman in everything he did, very much in keeping with the entire Dattl family.
“We are very shocked and join with so many others in the industry in offering our sincere condolences to the Dattl family.”
