Losing to illegal operators
Sweden’s Minister for Public Administration says state-run gaming operator Svenska Spel will retain its monopoly on gambling in the country for now, despite attempts by other entities to penetrate the market. At the same time, Svenska Spel wants to introduce legal online gaming to boost revenues and reclaim market share that has been lost to illegal operators.
“We sent in an application last June or July,” Svenska Spel spokesman Johan Tisell told PokerNews.com. “When we can anticipate an answer is really difficult to say. There’s been a change in government, and now they may be focused on entirely different issues than our application. We hope to get an answer before the summer of this year.”
Minister Ardalan Shekarabi recently sent a videotaped message to the Nya Spel-Sverige conference in Stockholm saying the country is not currently open to new operators.
Meanwhile, the European Court of Justice continues to press Sweden to be compliant with EU gaming laws. The European Commission has accused the Swedish government of “not exercising adequate control over the exclusive right-holder.”
Last November, in a report about the first quarter of 2014, the operator reported that gaming revenues decreased by SEK 186 million (US $22 million) during the period compared to 2013. Its total operating profit amounted to SEK 1.243 million (US $147,500), or SEK 83 million (US $9.8 million) less than in 2013.
“The decrease in revenues was expected,” said Svenska Spel CEO Lennart Käll.
