Swedish horse racing stakeholders call for ATG governance structure to be addressed 

The chairman of  Svensk Travsport says the issue must be addressed next year.

Sweden.- Anders Källström, chairman of Svensk Travsport (ST), has called for the horseracing betting provider Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp’s (ATG) governance structure to be reformed in 2024. Svensk Travsport – the Swedish trotting and breeders association, owns a 91 per cent stake in the betting operator. 

ATG was founded by the state in 1974 with the objective of providing sustainable funding for Swedish thoroughbred racing and trotting. It is independently owned, with the horseracing authority Svensk Galopp owning the remaining 9 per cent not owned by ST, but the operator’s governance is run by the government. 

There have been discussions on the structure of governance for the past two years, with Svensk Travsport pressing for a reduced state role in making board appointments and more influence for the company’s owners.

Källström says he has spoken with Niklas Wykman, the minister for financial markets and had stressed that 2024 would be a key year in which to negotiate with new ATG chair Peter Norman. Källström stressed that he did not oppose Norman’s appointment to the role. 

Norman replaced Bo Netz in June, when ATG also announced the election of two new members of its governing board. Eva Listi from the Ministry of Finance and Marie Osberg, a board member at Almi and Collector Bank, replaced Agneta Gille and Birgitta Losman.

ATG’s full-year revenue for 2022 came in at SEK6.04bn, down by 1.2 per cent year-on-year. It comprised SEK5.22bn in net gaming revenue (down 0.6 per cent), SEK234m in agency income and SEK584bn in other income.