Tonje Sagstuen takes helm as managing director of Norsk Tipping

Thor Gjermund Eriksen stepped down in August.

Norway.- Tonje Sagstuen has taken up the permanent role of managing director at the state-run gambling monopoly Norsk Tipping. She had been occupying the role on an interim basis since Thor Gjermund Eriksen stepped down at the end of August.

Sagstuen joined Norsk Tipping in 2014 and most recently held the position of director of responsibility, society and communication. Before joining the gambling operator, the former professional handball player worked at the newspaper Oppland Arbeiderblad, holding positions as editor in chief and news editor.

Sagstuen said: “I am grateful for the trust the board has shown in me and humbled by the responsibility I’ve been given. We are a large company that plays an important role for the whole of Norway. I look forward to leading the work on our important social mission.”

Norsk Tipping chairman Sylvia Brustad said: “I’m pleased to present Tonje Sagstuen as our new managing director. With her, Norsk Tipping gets a skilled and experienced manager who knows the company and its employees very well.

“The board appreciates the work Sagstuen has done as acting managing director and is pleased that she has accepted the position on a permanent basis. We are convinced that Sagstuen is the right person to lead us going forward.”

Following the opening of a competitive gambling market in Finland, Norsk Tipping will be left as almost the very last major state gambling monopolies left in Europe, along with Norsk Rikstoto, which provides horse racing betting.

Last month, Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto reported that they had completed a reduction in their marketing spend as ordered by Norway’s gambling regulator. Lottstift had ordered the two state-controlled monopoly operators to reduce their spending in August last year.

Lottstift ordered Norsk Tipping to reduce advertising spend by 20 per cent or NOK45m (€3.8m). The horse racing betting operator Norsk Rikstoto was ordered to cut spending by 5 per cent, or NOK3.4m. The regulator said that spending could be reduced because unlicensed gambling operators had been banned from advertising on television, reducing the competition from offshore gambling.

Meanwhile, the government of Norway has proposed new legislation to introduce DNS blocking against unlicensed gambling sites. The move would require internet providers to implement technical measures to prevent access to named websites using the domain name system (DNS). Players would be redirected to a landing page that explains why the website has been blocked.