(Newswire.net — June 18, 2018) — The Swedish gambling regulator Lotteriinspektionen’s budget saw an increase of 37% to enable it to meet the new demands after the Gambling Act comes into force in 2019. Currently, Svenska Spel is one of the biggest licensed providers of gambling services in the country, with other state-run companies sharing the rest of the market, but as a part of the re-regulation, new online gambling providers will be able to get a license from Lotteriinspektionen starting from 2019. While the land-business monopoly will be maintained by Svenska Spel, the new regulation means increased responsibilities of the watchdog, which is the main reason it requires additional funding. Lotteriinspektionen currently receives about $6 million from the government a year. With the increase, it will receive about $2.2 million more.
The size of Sweden’s gambling market is about $2.7 billion a year, of which $2 billion is made by the licensed state-run companies. The rest is generated by unauthorized businesses. With the new regulations, private companies will be able to share in these revenues as well. They will simply need to obtain licenses from Lotteriinspektionen. The process for licensing will begin in August, although the original plan was to start it in July. Companies can either apply for a gaming license or a combined license for gaming and betting, depending on what kind of services they want to provide. Their revenues will be taxed at a rate of 18%.
The new legislation was originally presented to the European Commission in 2017 and was met by a unanimous agreement. Later, after adding comprehensive information, the legislation was presented to Swedish lawmakers and as a result, it will take effect on January 1, 2019. The main object of the legislation is to protect customers.
This trend of liberalizing the gambling market is not exclusive to Sweden. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled a month ago in favor of lifting the federal ban on sports betting, allowing the states to decide on their own what the appropriate regulations should be for these activities. Hopefully, Sweden’s new approach will attract new businesses and prove right for the country. Although the monopoly on land-based services will still be maintained by the state-run companies, the share of online gambling is increasing fast. Especially for such a digitized country like Sweden, it will not be surprising if online gambling soon eclipses casinos with building and infrastructure.
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