Svenska Spel Monopolizes Swedish Market With Two-Month Revenue Of SEK906m

Though among the relatively new markets, Sweden is doing quite well. As far as the numbers go, Svenska Spel, state-owned gaming operator, generated a considerable revenue of SEK906m (£74.6m/€86.9m/$97.6m) …

…solely in the first two months of its activity.

Having in mind that they, practically, have a monopoly over the market in terms of income, their noteworthy success did not come as a surprise. Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, revealed that 10 operators acquired about 85% of the total turnover. Altogether, the amount for the two-month period is no less than SEK3.3bn. These figures do not include Postcode Lottery’s revenue.

Svenska Spel Rocks The Stage

Since the market opened at the beginning of the year, more than 70 licenses have been issued. Following Svenska Spel, AB Trav och Galopp (ATG), the former horse racing monopoly which turned to private business, had revenue of SEK667m, whereas Svenska Spel’s Sport & Casino Division acquired a sum of SEK385m.

Some operators with noteworthy revenue were:

• Kindred Group with SEK247m
• LeoVegas with SEK103m
• Hero Gaming SEK80m
• Global Gaming SEK78m
• Snabbare SEK61m

The total revenue for 10 leading operators for the first two months of this year was almost half the total market turnover for the last year's Q1 (SEK5.8bn).

Penalties For Excessive Advertising

Besides this enormous financial success, there’s still a long way to go for the market. Among the most burning problems is excessive advertising. Spelinspektionen pledged to issue retrospective penalties...

...against the operators who were previously advertising far too much.

There's been discussion about establishing a new set of rules for future members. This would make it clear what is compliant or non-compliant with the Swedish market. In addition to this, it would be easier for operators planning to bid for a license in months to come.

Among the main points that require strict regulation are rules regarding bonuses and promotion restrictions. At the time being, operators are allowed to offer promotional offers upon registration only.

Establishing A Moderate Market

The main point of any of the strict rules is to ensure the market is neutral, meaning there wouldn't be too much “call for action” or, in this case, excessive gambling. Besides advertising, self-exclusion is among the main things operators should pay close attention to.

Commenting on the situation of the Swedish market, Maria MacDonald, of gaming-focused law from Nordic Gambling, points out as follows:

“With regards to commercial messages, operators were amongst other things encouraged to take special care when it comes to exaggerating the chances of winning and the Consumer Agency also told operators to refrain from the use of so-called ‘take-over adverts’ or ‘pop-ups’ online that consumers need to click on in order to remove. The Consumer Agency also brought up that individuals which have self-excluded through the national self-exclusion register still seem to receive direct marketing on a regular basis and underlined that operators will be regarded as responsible also for actions from affiliates.”

Source:

“Svenska Spel leads the way in regulated Swedish market”, igamingbusiness.com, April 5, 2019.