Sweden continue to combat channelisation issues

Jake Graves November 24, 2023

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Sweden continue to combat channelisation issues

Sweden’s Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG) will take action against illegal gambling in the Scandinavian nation, due to a tenfold increase in visitor traffic to unlicensed sites since 2019.

Channelisation rates for regulated online gambling in Q3 ranged from 70 to 82 percent, with sports betting at the upper end at 88 percent and online casinos at 74 percent.

It is assumed that the spend per visit is now ten times higher with unlicensed operators leading to a channelisation rate of 70 percent.

This has now put this illegal market at an estimated valuation of between SEK3.4 billion and SEK6.7 billion.

Regulatory concerns

The website operators who are responsible for this channelisation rate are known as Infiniza Limited and North Point Management Ltd accounts for 60% of illegal gambling visitor traffic.

Surprisingly, none of the most visited websites were on the Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen’s banned list, which has certainly raised concerns among regulators.

Course of action

In order to address the channelisation concerns, the Swedish government is now proposing a tax increase from 18 to 22 percent applicable to gross gaming revenue(GGR).

This would take effect on July 1st, 2024 and aims to generate an additional tax revenue of SEK540 million annually.

Growth in the gambling sector

Despite this poor channelisation rate, the ATG has reported a Q3 growth in revenue of nearly 5 percent, reaching a total quarterly revenue of SEK1.35 billion.

This has been contributed to by casino games which have seen a 24.3 percent increase while sports betting has also seen a 5.3 percent improvement.

In terms of legal channelisation, digital channels generated SEK1.20 billion in revenue, indicating a clear preference among Swedish gamblers as retail stores only contributed SEK154 million.

These figures are still beneficial to ATG’s overall aim of creating long-term prospects, particularly against the numerous issues it faces, not least the economic uncertainties.

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