Poll results: Readers split on Swedish impact
Concerns remain about continued player movement to unlicensed sites
As Sweden prepares to submit draft egaming legislation in the coming weeks, less than half of respondents to this week’s eGaming Review poll are convinced the market will prove to be an important strategic egaming jurisdiction.
Just under 40% of those polled suggest that a 10% rate of tax, recommended by operator association Branschforeningen for Onlinspel, would prove attractive enough to operators to ensure the longer-term strength of the market. But concerns as to whether the country’s regulator will display too much caution in other aspects of the regulatory process remain.
A number of existing dot.com operators have developed strong brand loyalty among Swedish players, with favourable personal tax conditions playing no small part, and a report earlier this year from PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated unlicensed sites make up approximately 46% of Sweden’s £500m in online GGR.
This may have factored into some 35% of respondents anticipating the appeal of operators licensed elsewhere in the European Union to continue even after the imposition of a new dot.se regime.
Monopoly operator Svenska Spel may pose a threat to the growth of new entrants into a regulated Swedish market, however only 25% of those polled expect this to be the case.
Despite this week renewing its poker software deal with Spielo G2, the operator saw casino income (down 7.2%) and poker (down 13.8%) both fall year-on-year in its results for the 12 months ended December 2012.