Online gambling advertising restrictions are not helping the Swedes

Despite a state-sponsored monopoly and vigorous attempts to stop foreign rivals from advertising, the Swedish market has experienced its third consecutive year of declining turnover, with chief regulator Håkan Bergstedt comparing the calmer environment to a similar, quieter trend in other European national jurisdictions.

The national regulator, Lotteriinspektionen disclosed in its latest report that 2013 again saw lower total turnover figures at SEK 46.8 billion – around $7 billion, marginally down 0.3 percent on 2012…but down nevertheless.

Further evidence of the only partly successful attempts to exclude competition in 2012 is the disclosure that revenues departing the Nordic country rose 2 percent to SEK 2.3 billion…money that could have boosted the national total in revenue terms to SEK 19.6 billion (legal Swedish revenue came in at SEK 17.3 billion as household expenditure on gambling remained flat.)

As expected, Svenska Spel – the state-sponsored gambling monopoly in Sweden, generated the most revenue, with SEK 8.6 billion coming from non-casino activity, whilst the company’s Casino Cosmopol contributed revenue of SEK 1.1 billion – little changed from 2012.

The Swedish national lottery reported turnover up at SEK 5.7 billion, but horse racing wagers fell 2 percent to SEK 12.1 billion, delivering revenue of SEK 3.6 billion.

Bingo continued to pull the players in, with turnover just exceeding SEK 1 billion, whilst the casino-restaurants sector saw business drop 7.5 percent to SEK 458 million.

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