Int’l online operators take bigger bite of Swedish gambling market

Sweden’s gambling market reported flat spending in the first quarter of 2017, as declines at locally licensed operators offset gains at their internationally licensed online competitors.

Figures released Thursday by Sweden’s Lotteriinspektionen gaming regulator show the country’s overall gambling market enjoying turnover of SEK 5.4b (US $617.2m) in the three months ending March 31. The sum is just 0.2% higher than the same period last year.

However, internationally licensed online gambling operators that serve the Swedish market saw their share of the pie rise by 13% year-on-year to SEK 1.25b. At the same time, Swedish-licensed operators reported turnover falling 3% to just under SEK 4.2b.

The local decline was even more pronounced at the state-owned online monopoly operator Svenska Spel, which reported sales falling 5% to SEK 2.16b. The poor showing was entirely due to its land-based operations, which declined 9% year-on-year, while online gambling operations improved by 6%.