LeoVegas joins Norwegian igaming association
It’s the latest operator to join the Norwegian Industry Association for Online Gaming.
Norway.- Online casino operator LeoVegas is the latest company to join the Norwegian Industry Association for Online Gaming (Norsk Bransjeforening for Onlinespill).
The association was launched in May last year to lobby for an overhaul of Norway’s restrictive gambling regulations and monopoly system. It now has five members, with LeoVegas joining the founding operators Betsson Group, ComeOn, Kindred Group and Gaming Innovation Group (GiG).
It’s led by Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm, a former commercial director at Norwegian horse racing betting monopoly Norsk Rikstoto.
He said: “This is an important signal we have worked well in the association’s first year,”
LeoVegas communications director Hans Uhrus said NBO had rapidly proved itself to be “a serious association with weight in the gaming debate.”
He said: “We are impressed with the work that has been done, and will now join the association to strengthen this important alliance. By standing together against the monopoly policy, we can hopefully work out a solution that can address the need for a new and modern gaming policy.”
NBO wants Norway to overhaul its twin-operator monopoly system which gives Norsk Rikstoto exclusive control over horse race betting and Norsk Tipping control of lottery, sports betting and casino.
The association favours the creation of a licensing regime that would be open to all operators, arguing that the current framework limits funding for sports and cultural projects and provides weaker safeguards for problem gamblers who are attracted to unregulated offshore offerings.
A study by the University of Bergen commissioned by Norway’s regulator Lotteri-og Stiftelsestilsynet (Lotteritilsynet) estimated that problem gambling was on the rise in Norway.
Norway’s government has so far remained committed to the current model, with the latest gambling legislation preserving the monopoly framework and increasing state control.
