Swedish gaming revenue declines quarter-on-quarter
Gaming revenue for the quarter reached SEK6.54bn (€618m).
Sweden.- Gaming revenue in Sweden came in at SEK6.54bn (€618m) for the first quarter of 2022. That’s a rise of 5.8 per cent year-on-year but a decline of 6.8 per cent against the previous quarter.
A year-on-year increase in revenue from land-based casinos and online gaming made up for a fall in lottery sales, but they also saw a slow quarter compared to Q4 2021. Online gambling was the biggest contributor at SEK4.20bn, up 7.2 per cent year-on-year and 0.3 per cent sequentially.
Svenska Spel generated SEK1.29bn from the national lottery and Vegas slot halls, a fall of 4.4 per cent year-on-year and 23.6 per cent sequentially. Its Casino Cosmopol land-based casinos generated SEK103m, down 28.5 per cent sequentially. Casino Cosmopol generated no revenue in Q1 2021 as venues were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Charity lotteries generated SEK863m, up a notch year-on-year but down 3 per cent from Q4. Restaurant casinos generated SEK39m, up from a mere SEK5m in pandemic-affected Q1 2021 but down from SEK62m in Q4.
As of the end of Q1, 91 operators had active gaming licences in Sweden, not including charitable lotteries. Some 73,000 people had self-excluded from gambling using Sweden’s Spelpaus self-exclusion platform.
Sweden’s government has published its final draft of proposed gambling reforms, which will introduce mandatory B2B supplier licences. However, plans to limit the hours for gambling advertising appear to have been shelved, with the law only introducing “adjusted moderation”, which will be less severe than the “special moderation” imposed on alcohol marketing.
Under this standard, “the marketing of games must be adapted to take special account of the fact that different forms of gambling entail different risks of addiction”. However, it will not include the previous proposal to restrict the advertising of “high-risk” to between 9pm and 6am.
The government said it had determined that such a measure could “adversely impact channelling and media revenues” while still exposing the players most at risk.
BOS report recommends Sweden reduce restrictions on gaming licensees
A new report commissioned by the online gaming operator association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel has outlined economic benefits for the country if it reduced restrictions on gaming. The report says an easing of restrictions could result in a rise in gambling tax takings and nearly 500 new jobs.
An increase in the rate of channelisation from 80 per cent to 90 per cent could create 460 new jobs and boost tax by an estimated SEK1.1bn, the report claims.
But to achieve that, players would need more incentive to use licensed offerings, for example by being able to take advantage of bonus offers. Swedish gambling regulations currently only allow licensed operators to offer a single bonus to each player on sign-up.
