The Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s gambling regulator, has published information about the Swedish gambling market’s performance in the second quarter of the year. The period saw the authority’s licensees collectively record a turnover of SEK 6.7 billion (around $602,000), which translates to a slight year-on-year decrease.

The reported preliminary figure represents a decrease of a little bit over 1% compared to Q2 2022. The Swedish market continues to be fairly stable, as attested by the overall trends.

The Spelinspektionen also published results about the individual performance of various gambling verticals. Commercial online gambling and sports betting, for example, was the primary contributor to the total turnover. The vertical earned almost SEK 4.2 million ($377,500) in Q3 2023. This number is nearly identical to the one recorded in Q1 2023 and slightly lower than the one recorded in Q2 2022.

The state lottery and slot games collectively earned SEK 1.4 million ($125,800). The figure represents a slight quarter-on-quarter increase and a small year-on-year decrease. The net turnover of Casino Cosmopol, meanwhile, was around SEK 126,000 ($11,300).

Games for general purposes and national lotteries, on the other hand, brought in SEK 896,000 ($80,500). Community games and hall bingo, meanwhile, recorded a turnover of SEK 48,000 ($4,300). Finally, land-based commercial gaming earned SEK 51,000 ($4,583).

The Spelinspektionen concluded that by the end of the second quarter of the year, around 95,000 people were excluded from gambling via Sweden’s exclusion program, Spelpaus.se. This number represents a 1.4% year-on-year increase, the regulator pointed out.

Spelinspektionen’s Work Came Under Review

Two weeks ago, the Swedish National Audit Office announced its intention to launch a probe into Spelinspektionen, evaluating the regulator’s work, actions, strategies and effectiveness in achieving the objectives set by the Swedish national gambling policy.

One of the main concerns in Sweden continues to be the low channelization rates. Experts say that only 77% of the gamblers in the country play with licensed operators. This means that almost a quarter of the Swedes prefer offshore companies, despite the numerous risks associated with the black market.

By probing the Spelinspektionen’s work, the Swedish National Audit Office hopes to find valuable insights and devise plans to make a change.

In other Sweden-related news, Svenska Spel, Sweden’s state-owned online casino operator, recently donated $377,000 to five studies researching gambling harm. The move reaffirmed the operator’s desire to mitigate harm and promote responsible gambling. 

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The collection of taxes on gambling activities helps deliver a valuable stream of revenue for governments across the globe. Such tax revenue can be dedicated toward educational programs or contribute to the treatment, support and research of problem gambling. Besides the land-based gambling sector, amid the popularity of online gambling activities, iGaming operators also contribute significantly to tax revenue.

Now, judging by reports from local media outlets, Ukraine considers reinstating its 18% tax on turnover, applicable to online gambling and betting operators. Reportedly, the chair of the country’s parliamentary Finance Committee, Danylo Hetmantsev, confirmed the return of the turnover tax on Thursday.

The announcement reportedly came via Telegram and it is expected to help raise valuable revenue. The chair of the Finance Committee reportedly said that the reinstatement of the 18% tax on the turnover of online casino operators is expected to bring some UAH 1.5 billion or $41 million in revenue for a fiscal year.

Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a Ukrainian MP, issued further details regarding the 18% tax rate. He explained that this 18% tax will target the turnover of the online casino and betting companies, not their revenue. It is yet to be seen how licensed operators in the country will respond to the 18% online gambling tax.

Only recently, the leading iGaming, sports and esports betting operator, GG.Bet, announced it expanded its presence to Ukraine. This week, the company revealed that it secured the necessary licenses to launch its offering in the country, complementing its European growth after its recent launch in the United Kingdom.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, law enforcement recently raided eight illegal gambling dens. Early in June, raids within the Kyiv region were conducted, the Economic Security Bureau of Ukraine (ESBU) revealed.

The raids resulted in the shutdown of eight illegal gambling locations. In the process, there was seized gambling equipment along with UAH 100,000 ($2,700). The operation was conducted by the ESBU, in collaboration with Kyiv’s regional department of Internal Security and the National Police of Ukraine.

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The fast-growing business-to-business (B2B) technology provider for the online gambling industry, EveryMatrix, celebrated an important milestone for its CasinoEngine platform. A statement released by the company Wednesday reveals that its CasinoEngine platform surpassed 4 billion monthly casino game rounds, as well as €4 billion ($4.34 billion) in monthly turnover for May.

Stian Enger Pettersen, EveryMatrix’s head of casino, acknowledged that the milestones reaffirm the company’s ongoing growth and presence within the competitive gambling market. At the same time, he explained that the rapid growth is a testament to the confidence the company’s partners have in its products.

Pettersen thanked EveryMatrix’s B2B partners for their continuous support and trust. Finally, he explained that the company remains committed to delivering innovative, creative and effective solutions that can bring success to the growing iGaming vertical.

“These milestones showcase our strength and leading presence in the market, the trust our partners have in us and our products, and just how rapidly both our clients are growing, and we are growing as a result.“

Stian Enger Pettersen, head of casino, EveryMatrix

The Company Enjoys Significant Growth

The latest achievement dating to May is a testament to CasinoEngine’s rapid growth over the last year. Between 2018 and July 2022, the platform saw significant growth from 1 billion casino game rounds to 2 billion rounds. However, since then, which was less than a year ago, or 11 months, the casino game rounds for its platform soared to 4 billion.

Judging by the recent update released by EveryMatrix, its monthly gross gaming revenue (GGR) saw an increase of 50% in the last eight months. The B2B technology provider confirmed that this growth was the result of CasinoEngine’s “exceptional performance driving continuous growth among tier-1 clients.”

A comparison of GGR shows that in June 2020, it was €55 million ($59.6 million). Then, in November last year, it soared to €100 million ($108.5 million), while finally, last month, it surpassed €150 million ($162.7 million). This rapid growth reaffirms the scalability of the company’s platform and its innovative approach.

EveryMatrix’s latest report reveals that the platform’s monthly casino turnover skyrocketed as well. Back in May 2021, the platform’s turnover hit €2 billion ($2.2 billion), marking a record at the time. Then, in less than a year, in February 2023, it increased to €3 billion ($3.3 billion). That process of rapid growth continued and after three months, in May, CasinoEngine’s turnover hit the €4 billion ($4.34 billion) milestone.

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Core pricing itself tends to be relatively straightforward as the market has matured over the course of the NCAA season where all 68 teams entering the bracket will have clocked up over 30 games. This is a decent sample size when you consider the NFL regular season is just 17 games! Coaching tendencies are known, and line-ups and rotations are settled but of course, everyone loves the underdog story and the big upsets when variance comes to play. Last year, it was St. Peter’s that became the giant killer after their unexpected run and undoubtedly, we’ll see other low seeds progress in 2023 to capture the public’s imagination once again.

Q: Do you expect March Madness to match, or even exceed, the betting activity we saw in last month’s Super Bowl?

The Super Bowl was a huge success for Amelco as we notched up a record handle. As a platform provider and trading floor, we are benefitting from new product rollouts, new integrations, and market access in a number of new states compared to the previous year. We expect that promising business to carry over into March Madness with this iteration of the big tournament set to be far and away our biggest yet.

Q: Will the expected high volumes be a driver for more States to encourage legalised sports betting?

We enter the 2023 tournament as a licenced platform provider in 17 states with eyes set on further expansion in the year ahead. Our sportsbook partners operate across a wide variety of regulated states, competing with the ‘big boys’ in mass markets such as Colorado, Michigan and New Jersey through to a more localised landscape in the likes of Arkansas and Wyoming. There hasn’t been an optimised ‘one size fits all’ approach from a regulator yet. Those states who are nearing legalisation, but have sat on the sidelines so far, will have observed the sizeable tax benefits and varying degrees of success that the existing models from other states have provided. This has to have an underlying appeal that should see more states become legalised as we move further into 2023 and beyond.

Q: As mobile betting grows in popularity, can we expect that to become the pre-eminent method of sports betting in the US for the foreseeable future?

Online mobile growth is far exceeding that of the land-based model. However, there is room and merit for both to grow side-by-side. We have seen impressive retail numbers at launch for Fanatics at FedEx Field whilst our more traditional casino and hotel-based business continues to boom. At Amelco, we pride ourselves on developing both mediums at a fast pace to keep up with the latest industry demands and requirements. In-person wagering and enjoying the company of others will always trump sitting alone betting on an app while taking in marquee events and tournaments. We saw record retail numbers during the soccer World Cup and the Super Bowl and we now expect that to continue into March Madness.

Q: With both the Super Bowl and March Madness in a small time period, how can sports bettors remain engaged in the lull period after these events?

There is no shortage of action after March Madness concludes. The NBA and NHL playoffs get underway at the conclusion of tournament play in the NCAA, whilst we have tennis and golf Majors to look forward to as well. In soccer, there looks set to be an exciting end to the EPL, Champions League and other major leagues globally in May and June and the MLB season will have also ramped up. Away from the sporting field, there are one-off events such as the NFL draft that continue to grow in popularity from a wagering perspective year-on-year. Traditionally, the summer months are seen as downtime for operators and bettors alike but we’re optimistic about capturing and maintaining business during this period with competitive and diverse offerings across multiple sports.

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