Kindred and Betsson denied access to ATG pools
Swedish Competition Authority unequivocally backs former monopoly operator in horseracing pools dispute
Kindred and Betsson have been denied access to ATG’s racing pools following a ruling by the Swedish Competition Authority on Friday.
The dispute started in April, when Swedish trade body BOS filed a grievance on behalf of the oeprators with the competition authority, claiming that ATG was giving access to its pools to foreign operators while rejecting requests from Sweden’s licensed operators.
The trade body claimed the behaviour was anti-competitive and an abuse of ATG’s dominant market position.
Kindred and Betsson asked the authority to impose an obligation on ATG to give them access to ATG’s gaming pools on “reasonable commercial terms”, equivalent to foreign partners such as the Norwegian Rikstoto Foundation.
However, the Swedish Competition Authority concluded that ATG has the right to freely choose its trading partners.
The regulator insisted that granting access to licensed operators would actually cause a decrease in competition, because rivals would lose the incentive to create their own pool game concepts.
“It is a healthy and well-balanced decision we have received from the Swedish Competition Authority,” said ATG CEO Hasse Lord Skarplöth.
“There is fierce competition in the gaming market and it is self-evident that ATG itself will decide who we are entering into agreements with,” he added.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, the CEO of trade association BOS, said it was “unfortunate” the competition authority didn’t give the matter a higher priority.
“I note the authority doesn’t come to a conclusion regarding the fundamental question; whether ATG abuses its dominant position in horse betting or not. The question remains unanswered by the state of Sweden,” Hoffstedt said.
“I believe it would have been good for the competition if more operators were welcomed into the ATG pool system. I also believe it would have been beneficial for the horse sport if more operators were active in horse betting. An exclusion of participation into the pool makes it a whole lot more difficult to participate in horse betting in general.”