Swedish gaming operator AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) says there remains a “downward" trend in the online gaming channelisation rate despite the rate stabilising in Q3 this year.
ATG’s latest report puts the Swedish channelisation rate in the third quarter of 2024 between 70 per cent and 82 per cent.
Year-on-year, ATG’s estimated rate range has increased from between 68 per cent and 81 per cent.
However, ATG noted that its forecast must be compared with the Swedish government’s target of 90 per cent.
In October, the Swedish gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, put the channelisation rate at 86 per cent.
“Unlicensed gambling is estimated to have a gross turnover of up to SEK150bn,” said ATG CEO Hans Lord Skarplöth.
“To simultaneously make such high demands on us licensed gambling companies, while these enormous sums escape regulation and control, is both unreasonable and counterproductive.”
The ATG chief’s comments relate to the recent increase in the gambling tax for licensees, which rose from 18 per cent to 22 per cent in July.
ATG has been making forecasts of the size of the unlicensed market in Sweden since 2019, from which point it now says visitor traffic to unlicensed companies has increased tenfold.
What’s more, 18 of the 20 unlicensed sites with the biggest traffic in Q3 use the same platform providers as many licensees, ATG said.
Only two of the top 20 unlicensed sites were on the regulator’s blacklist, the company added.
“The results of our quarterly surveys are alarming and indicate that a significant proportion of problem gamblers in Sweden are connected to unlicensed gambling sites,” Skarplöth said.
“We want people to feel good about their gambling. And we are working toward a gambling market that is healthier tomorrow than it is today.
“That is why ATG will do everything we can to contribute to the fight against unlicensed gambling companies, day by day, month by month, until licensed companies have a monopoly on gambling in Sweden.”
ATG's latest report comes after Spelinspektionen's regulation of the Swedish market was branded "not effective enough" by the country's National Audit Office.
