Swedish gambling operator Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG) has called for stronger measures against the illegal gambling market, following a new report indicating another decline in the channelisation rate.
ATG’s Q1 report on player movement towards the legal market shows the channelisation rate has dropped to between 68% and 81%, down from 69% to 82% in Q4 2023.
The report revealed that the unlicensed gambling market in Sweden is valued at between SEK 3.7 billion and SEK 7.4 billion annually, with website traffic to unlicensed operators having increased tenfold since 2019.
Additionally, none of the top 20 sites with the highest traffic during the quarter were on the regulator’s prohibition list, ATG noted, and 18 of these 20 sites used the same platform providers as licensed operators.
ATG CEO Hasse Lord Skarplöth described the situation as “deeply concerning” and urged a reconsideration of Swedish regulations on illegal gambling to make it unlawful for unlicensed companies to operate in Sweden.
Currently, the regulations only prohibit unlicensed operators from marketing gambling products to players.
ATG CEO Hasse Lord Skarplöth stated:
The prohibition on promotion and targeting criteria clearly does not protect the most vulnerable groups or ensure effective channelling. It is time to implement the recommendations of the latest inquiries by Håkan Hallstedt and Gunnar Larsson, which propose making it illegal to offer unlicensed gambling in Sweden, regardless of targeting criteria.
