Sweden Will Review Its Online Gambling Framework

Sweden will review it's online gambling framework - that didn't take long!

Monopoly Issue

The negative connotations of a government-owned monopoly were too much to sustain in Sweden's rapidly emerging iGaming market.

Mounting pressure from the European Commission, its own officials, and public perceptions seemed to come to a head in recent weeks, is reportedly bringing about the end of the gambling monopoly of Svenska Spel in Sweden.

Sweden's nation status in the EU was called into question a year ago by the Commission because of the sovereign nation's failure to update its restrictive gambling rules and regulations and make them more compatible with EU policy, which favors online regulation.

Recent Pressure Ramps

Last month, Sweden's Ministry of Finance formally agreed to thoroughly review its gambling framework in order to make it more compliant with EU policy, and more consistent with the demands and potential social benefits of today's European gambling industry.

Dissolving the control of Svenska Spel and Lotteriinspektionen, the gambling monopolist and regulatory body in the country, will open Sweden's market to new online operators originating in Sweden, as well as welcome betting operators outside its borders to enter the market.

The dissolution of the monopoly will also entail a review of services offered by Svenska Spel, whose new struggles undoubtedly spurred this new approach by the Swedish government: the first half of last year saw the monopolist drop in a reported 5% in sales from the same period in 2013.

Currently, in a country where Svea Casino, Tivoli Casino and Cherry Casino are already popular, only operators holding a Swedish gambling license are allowed to accept wagers from Swedish players.

Accelerated Adaptation

The deadline for making changes and establishing new gambling laws in the country to meet EU requirements is September 2018, at the time of Sweden's next general election. However, the way things are going, that feels a long way off for revamping the monopoly of Sweden's online gambling market. A special session or accelerated measures certainly does not appear out of the question. Between the EU stigmatization of a monopoly, and the opportunity to expand revenues by allowing foreign operators into the market, the Swedish government appears wise to pick up the pace.