year) of SEK558.9m (Q3 2020) and new ‘pay and play’ brand Jalla Casino was launched in Sweden in April 2020.
Meanwhile, the Kindred Group, which offers 12 brands to 29 million customers throughout Europe, US and Australia, is also speaking out again the restrictions.
Te group says there is little evidence to support increased problem gambling whilst the government claimed at the start of the Gambling Act that general limits for players were not effective ways of protection. Tis turnaround is contradictory, whilst the government is taking tiny steps towards combating illegal gambling sites.
Henrik Tjärnström, CEO at Kindred said: “During the seven months that the restrictions have been in place, the Swedish government has not been taking any measures to determine the level of channelisation, they have not accounted for any measures against unlicensed operators in Sweden, and they cannot present any notable connections between the pandemic and increased problem gambling in Sweden at licenced Swedish operators. What we can see is a lower channelisation and an increased activity at unlicenced operators with zero consumer protection. Tat is a step in the wrong direction and it is not the gambling policy decided by the Swedish parliament.”
Online betting and gaming revenue saw a 3.6 per cent increase to SEK3.61bn in Q2 at the height of the pandemic, which is still 1.1 per cent lower than Q4 2019, which contrasts with Shekarabi’s warnings of a sharp increase in online casino play.
Te onshore online market is valued at around SEK14bn, whilst sports betting is responsible for 30 per cent, followed by horse racing bets (25 per cent), lottery (13 per cent) and gaming (32 per cent). Commercial online onshore sports betting is the largest part of the Swedish sports betting market representing 54 per cent of the total market in 2019.
Svenska Spel led the online gambling market for the first nine months of 2019 with a 14.5 per cent online market share and GGR of SEK1bn, followed by Kindred Group with 10 per cent (SEK723m) and ATG with SEK720m. LeoVegas (SEK603m) and Bet365 (SEK521m) make up the top five.
Meanwhile, sales for land-based commercial gaming (restaurant casinos) dropped by 25 per cent during the third quarter of 2020 compared to the same period the year before. Tis involves slots, card tournament games and slots in restaurants. 1Q 2020 saw sales of SEK52m, 2Q with SEK34m and 3Q with SEK45m. In 2019, this data was 1Q 2019 SEK48m, 2Q SEK52m and 3Q SEK59m and 4Q with SEK68m.
“Regarding Covid, the situation now is not as bad as it was
during spring when land-based casinos and games on boats were closed, sales of tickets in stores decreased, restaurant casinos were almost empty and bingo halls laid off 40 per
cent of employees. Most sporting events were stopped with the result that betting on sports was almost non-existent. Te situation looks better now, but casinos are still closed.” Jenny Nilzon, SPER
Kindred saw Q3 2020 revenues of £280.7m (24 per cent increase on Q3 2019) whilst January to September revenues was £765.5m (13 per cent increase). 2019 GGR was £912.8m.
Global Gaming subsidiary SafeEnt had its licence revocation appeal denied by the Swedish Court of Appeal after a series of actions by the operator over the last year or so.
SafeEnt, which runs Ninja Casino and
Spellandbet.com brands, had its licence revoked by the SGA in June 2019 due to a breach of provisions in the Gambling Act, mostly in regards to deposit limits, customer support and bonus offers.
It continues to be a tough year in Sweden particularly for the land-based sector. However the online sector has seen fairly regular revenues. GGR in Sweden for Q2 2020 had fallen by 4.1 per cent to SEK5.94bn (the lowest quarter since January 2019), although Q3 saw an increase of 1.3 per cent on 2019 figures to just over SEK6bn.
SPER’s Jenny Nilzon said: “Regarding Covid, the situation now is not as bad as it was during spring when international land-based casinos and games on boats were closed, sales of tickets in stores decreased, restaurant casinos were almost empty and bingo halls laid off 40 per cent of employees. Most sporting events were stopped with the result that betting on sports was almost non-existent. Te situation looks better now, but international land-based casinos are still closed.
“I think that the outlook for the coming years depends very much on how the government will succeed in fighting illegal gambling. Te tools that the SGA has today are not enough.”
Sweden has drawn attention for its unorthodox reaction to the pandemic as it shunned lockdowns and instead relied on voluntary measures initially with an emphasis on social distancing measures.
High schools and colleges were closed down moving teaching online and public gatherings were limited with a previous limit of 300 now
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P45
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