Svenska Spel CEO calls for ban on lottery betting operators
Patrik Hofbauer attacks so-called “shadow play” firms offering betting on other companies products
Svenska Spel CEO Patrik Hofbauer has called for a ban on lottery betting firms in Sweden, claiming they are damaging public funding from lotteries.
In a strongly worded statement, published on Svenska Spel’s corporate site, Hofbauer singled out synthetic lottery firms as profiting from Svenska Spel’s products.
“It is incomprehensible that this may continue,” Hofbauer said. “I can’t think of any other industry where it’s okay to use competing companies’ products as the basis for their own business.
“The shadow gaming companies cannibalize on well-known lotteries without owning the brands themselves that they market and sell,” Hofbauer added.
“shadow play” sites which offer betting on other products which they are not currently licensed to do under Swedish law.
He added that such betting was not being true to the purpose of the Swedish Gambling Act in taking away profits from publicly operated lotteries.
Hofbauer argued it was doubtful that most Swedish bettors understood what betting on lotteries entailed, claiming players would have to be an “expert” to grasp the full meaning.
Svenska Spel currently operates a monopoly on lottery-based gaming in Sweden, guaranteed by the Swedish Gambling Act.
As such, no company can offer lottery-betting on products without first obtaining permission from Svenska Spel.
Lottery betting operator Lottoland was fined £58,000 in June after it emerged the company had been offering lottery betting on Svenska Spel products without permission.
Later in June, fellow operator Multi Lotto received a warning from the SGA for the same offence.
In its judgment the SGA claimed Multi Lotto had not been “sufficiently clear” in informing players it did not offer lottery-based gaming, rather it offered betting on the results of lotteries.
Lottery betting firms have faced similar criticism in other regulated jurisdictions including the UK, Ireland and Australia over the loss of revenue for national lottery operators.
In these cases, operators have challenged the lotteries to provide evidence to substantiate loss-of-revenue claims.