Sweden’s Q3 online gambling record, XC Gaming fined for bonus offers

Sweden’s online gambling market posted only a modest revenue gain in the third quarter, while the local regulator has spanked yet another operator for violating bonus offer rules.

Figures released Friday by the Spelinspektionen regulatory body show Sweden’s overall gambling market generated revenue of just over SEK6b (US$700.5m) in the three months ending September 30, a gain of only 1.3% from the same period last year and 2% higher than Q2 2020.

Swedish-licensed online operators reported revenue rising 5.8% year-on-year to SEK3.7b, beating Q1 2020’s previous market-best by a mere SEK33m. The lottery and slot machine operations of the state-run Svenska Spel had an even better quarter, rising 7.7% to just under SEK1.5b, the segment’s best showing this year.

Spelinspektionen said it had no concrete figures for how much revenue was generated in Q3 by internationally licensed online gambling operators serving Swedish customers without local permission. However, Swedish-licensed operators believe the new pandemic limits on online casino deposits and bonuses have driven a lot of traffic to these international interlopers.