Swedish GGR at lowest since igaming launch
Overall revenue for the second quarter was down 4.1 per cent year-on-year while online revenue fell against Q1.
Sweden.- Gambling revenue for the second quarter was the lowest Sweden has seen since the introduction of regulated online gaming at the start of 2019.
A year-on-year increase in online revenue failed to offset the impact of the pandemic on the land-based sector, causing total GGR to fall 4.1 per cent to SEK5.94bn (€572.4m).
Although online gambling revenue increased 3.6 per cent year-on-year to SEK3.61bn (€348m), that’s still a decrease on the previous two quarters.
It is 1.3 per cent below the first quarter of the year and 1.1 per cent below the last quarter of 2019.
The lottery and gaming machines monopoly run by Svenska Spel saw revenue fall 8.5 per cent year-on-year to SEK1.29bn.
That figure represents a recovery of 14.7 per cent on Q1 thanks to the resumption of operations in the quarter.
Svenska Spel’s revenue from its lottery brand Tur rose 3.3 per cent to SEK1.18bn.
Its Vegas slot machines unit took SEK170m, while its Casino Cosmopol chain reported no revenue at all as venues remained closed.
Non-profit lotteries saw revenue rise 2.7 per cent year-on-year and 10.7 per cent from Q1 to SEK950m.
Revenue from bingo fell 34.5 per cent to a low of SEK38m while takings from restaurant casinos fell 36.5 per cent to SEK33m.
Total gaming revenue for the first six months of the year amounted to SEK11.87bn, a drop of 2.5 per cent on the first half of 2019.
Online revenue increased 5.5 per cent to SEK7.27bn while Svenska Spel’s lottery and gaming machine revenue dropped 14.6 per cent to SEK2.42bn.
The drop in online revenue compared to the last two quarters contrasts with the national government’s fears of a spike in online casino gambling during the pandemic.
That concern led Sweden to introduce a much-criticised SEK5,000 (€476) weekly deposit cap for online casino gaming.
It remains to be seen what effect the introduction of the deposit caps will have on revenue in the online sector.
The national regulator has already admitted difficulty enforcing the limits.
Earlier this month, Sweden’s regulator called for a change in the law to allow it to access payment information to gambling operators in a bid to block payments to unregulated sites.
