{"id":85025,"date":"2018-08-02T09:40:15","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T16:40:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=85025"},"modified":"2019-06-17T15:47:52","modified_gmt":"2019-06-17T22:47:52","slug":"swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/","title":{"rendered":"Swedish Online Gambling \u2018Re-regulation\u2019 Gets 22 Takers"},"content":{"rendered":"

The brand-new Swedish online gaming licensing regime began accepting applicants on Wednesday, with 22 operators submitting paperwork to join the market on day one.<\/p>\n

\"Swedish
Pontus Lindwall\u2019s company Bettson was among the exiled Swedish operators applying for a license, but the Kindred Group was conspicuous by its absence yesterday. The latter believes former monopoly Svenska Spel should have been privatized or split to ensure a level playing field. (Image: Betsson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among them were notable industry pioneers with Swedish origins, such as Betsson and Expekt — companies exiled from their home country for the best part of 20 years under the previous monopolistic system.<\/p>\n

According to iGamingBusiness, up to 70 license applications are expected to be made before the new rules come into effect on January 1, 2019.<\/p>\n

Sweden\u2019s so called \u2018re-regulation\u2019 will break the longstanding government monopoly and open the market for the first time to international operators. These new operators will be taxed at 18 percent and will be required to adhere to \u201cstrict requirements for moderation in marketing gambling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former Monopoly Svenska Spel Applies <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Also among the applicants yesterday was state-owned former gambling monopoly Svenska Spel. The government resisted calls to privatize Svenska Spel<\/a> and its state-owned land-based casinos, which has irritated some potential licensees.<\/p>\n

While Svenska Spel\u2019s online gambling operations will join the new competitive market, its land-based operations will remain tax free, as \u201cstate-owned games.\u201d Some operators believe this gives it an unfair market advantage.<\/p>\n

\n

Another Swedish online gambling pioneer, the Kindred Group, has been the loudest voice of dissent and has called for Svenska Spel to be, if not privatized, at least split into two distinct commercial and non-commercial entities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Kindred, which owns the Unibet, LeoVegas, and 32 Red brands, among others, was conspicuous by its absence among yesterday\u2019s license applicants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Ministry of Enterprise [owner of Svenska Spel] and the Ministry of Finance [responsible for legislation on gambling] has so far acted in opposite directions,\u201d said Kindred\u2019s Head of Public Affairs Nordics, Peter Alling, recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, the government still has a responsibility it can\u2019t avoid. Failure to deal professionally with the split, not adhering to basic competition regulations, will seriously endanger the outcome of the reform.\u201d<\/p>\n

Betsson\u2019s Coming Home<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Betsson\u2019s CEO Pontus Lindwall struck a more optimistic note in a recent blogpost, however.<\/p>\n

Sweden is our home turf,\u201d said Lindwall. \u201cWe\u2019re a Swedish top company within the industry, and we\u2019ve been in this market for a very long time. I think it\u2019s great that it opens up for regulation and for license applications.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sweden\u2019s decision to open up its market came after legal threats from the European Union<\/a>, which contested that the state-owned monopoly violated its rules on the free cross-border movement of services within the trading bloc. The EU said Sweden could not prosecute online gambling operators while it maintained a gambling monopoly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The brand-new Swedish online gaming licensing regime began accepting applicants on Wednesday, with 22 operators submitting paperwork to join the market on day one. Among them were notable industry pioneers with Swedish origins, such as Betsson and Expekt — companies exiled from their home country for the best part of 20 years under the previous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":85028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,19,13592],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSwedish Online Gambling \u2018Re-regulation\u2019 Gets 22 Takers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Swedish online gambling licensing process begins as government breaks up longstanding monopoly Svenska Spel. Bettson is one of the first to join, but Kindred is conspicuously absent.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swedish Online Gambling \u2018Re-regulation\u2019 Gets 22 Takers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Swedish online gambling licensing process begins as government breaks up longstanding monopoly Svenska Spel. Bettson is one of the first to join, but Kindred is conspicuously absent.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-02T16:40:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-06-17T22:47:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Pontus-gaming-new.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1544\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"843\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/\",\"name\":\"Swedish Online Gambling \u2018Re-regulation\u2019 Gets 22 Takers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Pontus-gaming-new.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-08-02T16:40:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-06-17T22:47:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Swedish online gambling licensing process begins as government breaks up longstanding monopoly Svenska Spel. Bettson is one of the first to join, but Kindred is conspicuously absent.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Pontus-gaming-new.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Pontus-gaming-new.jpg\",\"width\":1544,\"height\":843,\"caption\":\"Pontus Lindwall\u2019s company Bettson was among the exiled Swedish operators applying for a license, but the Kindred Group was conspicuous by its absence. The latter believes former monopoly Svenska Spel should have been privatized or split to ensure a level playing field. (Image: Bettson)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Regulation\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/regulation\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Swedish Online Gambling \u2018Re-regulation\u2019 Gets 22 Takers\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Swedish Online Gambling \u2018Re-regulation\u2019 Gets 22 Takers","description":"Swedish online gambling licensing process begins as government breaks up longstanding monopoly Svenska Spel. Bettson is one of the first to join, but Kindred is conspicuously absent.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Swedish Online Gambling \u2018Re-regulation\u2019 Gets 22 Takers","og_description":"Swedish online gambling licensing process begins as government breaks up longstanding monopoly Svenska Spel. Bettson is one of the first to join, but Kindred is conspicuously absent.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2018-08-02T16:40:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-06-17T22:47:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1544,"height":843,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Pontus-gaming-new.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/","name":"Swedish Online Gambling \u2018Re-regulation\u2019 Gets 22 Takers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Pontus-gaming-new.jpg","datePublished":"2018-08-02T16:40:15+00:00","dateModified":"2019-06-17T22:47:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"Swedish online gambling licensing process begins as government breaks up longstanding monopoly Svenska Spel. Bettson is one of the first to join, but Kindred is conspicuously absent.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Pontus-gaming-new.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Pontus-gaming-new.jpg","width":1544,"height":843,"caption":"Pontus Lindwall\u2019s company Bettson was among the exiled Swedish operators applying for a license, but the Kindred Group was conspicuous by its absence. The latter believes former monopoly Svenska Spel should have been privatized or split to ensure a level playing field. (Image: Bettson)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/swedish-online-gambling-re-regulation-gets-22-takers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Regulation","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/regulation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Swedish Online Gambling \u2018Re-regulation\u2019 Gets 22 Takers"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85025"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}