Svenska Spel reports 5% Q1 online rise
State operator notes it's likely to face challenge from unlicensed firms as long regulatory process begins
Swedish state-owned operator Svenska Spel reported a small increase in online revenues for Q1, but the firm said it remains concerned by the continued presence of unlicensed challengers in the market.
Online gaming revenues were up 5.5% year-on-year to 421m SEK (£32.1m), with mobile revenues up 53%, and the firm said by their latest calculations it held around 20% of Sweden’s online market share.
But the firm added this figure was impacted by increased competition from unlicensed operators, which Svenska Spel said currently accounted for around 75% of marketing spend due to ineffective legislation in place to counter the marketing of unlicensed sites.
Sweden’s minister of public administration Ardalan Shekarabi spoke at the operator’s AGM in Visby yesterday, laying out a timetable for a framework, which would for the first time enable foreign operators to apply for a licence.
Shekarabi said a public inquiry should begin in the next few months, and the current government is hoping to have a licensing system in place before the end of its term in September 2018, however, some operators have suggested 2019 or 2020 would be a more realistic target.