Swedish gambling revenue reaches new record for Q2
A rise in online gambling revenue offset the decline in national lottery takings.
Sweden.- The national gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has reported that Swedish regulated gross gambling revenue reached a new quarterly record of SEK 6.89bn (€602m) in Q2. Revenue was up by 2.68 per cent year-on-year and 3.3 per cent from Q1.
Online gambling generated the largest proportion of revenue at SEK 4.57bn, a rise of 9.2 per cent year-on-year. That offset a 7.5 per cent drop in national lottery revenue to SEK1.29bn, the lowest since the first quarter of 2020.
Svenska Spel’s Casino Cosmopol generated revenue of SEK 33m, a drop of 73 per cent year-on-year following the closure of its land-based casinos in Malmö and Gothenburg, which has left only the brand’s Stockholm casino in operation.
Charity lottery revenue was down slightly at SEK 893m and bingo hall revenue was steady at SEK 52m (€4.5m). Restaurant casino revenue rose slightly to SEK 56m. Meanwhile, Spelpaus, Sweden’s self-exclusion service, had 112,000 registrations at the end of the quarter, a rise of 1.7 per cent sequentially.
New powers for the Swedish gambling regulator
Earlier this month, the Swedish government gave Spelinspektionen new powers under which it will be permitted to set requirements for individual licensees’ action plans on excessive gambling. The move is intended to allow the regulator to ensure that operators uphold online safeguards, protections and customer care duties.
The Swedish Gambling Act requires online gambling operators to have an action plan detailing their duty of care procedures and protocols. From October 1, Spelinspektionen will be able to change or modify such plans. The move comes after the regulator found that licensees’ plans varied significantly in how they addressed protection from excessive gambling. This led the regulator to seek powers to intervene and set specific requirements.
Meanwhile, the regulator has called for the government to carefully consider the potential impact of a proposal to close Svenska Spel’s Casino Cosmopol brand entirely. It says the closure of Sweden’s last land-based casino could harm efforts to tackle unlicensed gambling.
Spelinspektionen says it has no objection to the proposal to close Casino Cosmopol. However, it highlighted police concerns that some land-based casino players could move to illegal gambling. As a result, it says it would need more resources to tackle illegal gambling and to warn players of the changes.
