Svenska Spel CEO calls for shadow lottery ban

Patrik Hofbauer has called for the government to ban shadow lottery betting.

Sweden.- Patrik Hofbauer, President and CEO of Sweden’s state-owned lottery operator, Svenska Spel, has criticised operators who offer shadow betting on the lottery.

He called on the government to ban the practice of shadow betting on the lottery, saying that it risked hurting the finances of sports clubs and charities by cannibalising revenue from the traditional lottery run by Spenska Spel itself.

Hofbauer said: “Shadow lottery companies take market share from the very part of the gaming market that the 2019 Gambling Act exists to preserve.

“If the development continues, funding for sports associations and charities can be adversely affected. All nonprofit businesses that receive a portion of their revenue from public lotteries are affected.”

Svenska Spel has commissioned a new report from H2 Gambling Capital, which estimates the revenue taken by so-called shadow lottery betting across Europe to be growing by 10 per cent to 20 per cent each year.

The report estimated that lottery betting now generated between €1.25billion and €1.5billion, accounting for 40 per cent of European online lottery revenue.

Hofbauer suggested Sweden should follow the example of Denmark, which has banned companies with Danish gaming licences from offering betting on lotteries.

In April, Svenska Spel reported stable results for the first quarter of the year.