Betsson news

Sweden is our home planet. We are a Swedish leader in the industry, and we have been on the Swedish market for a very long time. I find it amazing that it now opens up for reorganization and license application.

Regarding reorganization, I do not think there will be such major changes. We will pay tax on 18% of GGR, which has a significant impact on P & L, but we have been in this market for a long time and with reorganization we will have better marketing, sponsorship and PR opportunities, which is good. But the majority of our business will continue as before, under the new regulation.

I’ve been expecting more or less since 1992, when I started in the game industry. It has been a long time since. I would say that the change came only when politicians changed and decided to open up for licenses.

Yes, we applied in 2006 and our application was rejected. We got a lot of explanations, which were not really good at all, but I think the reason for the refusal was that there was no political will behind at that time.

Yes, at the time when we submitted our first application, I think we gave the Finains Department a lot of concerns because they understood that they could give us a license and they understood that they should give us a license, but they refused anyway. I think that the kind of activities that we applied for a license in 2006 have helped us get to the state we are today, with a regulated gaming market in Sweden.

We plan to have a few more employees in Sweden, most in marketing and PR, but apart from that we will continue as before.

This means we have yet another regulated market to work with and follow up. That means we have yet another local license. But in terms of how we work practically, I do not think it will change much.

It’s business as usual. As I said, the number of employees in Sweden in marketing and PR will probably increase, but it’s about a handful of people, so there are no big changes.

There is nothing we’ve communicated, but anyone can surely imagine that when a market opens up like this, and a company decides to position itself in that market, one must also get involved. We have been active for a long time in the Swedish market and have spent a lot of money here, and I think this will continue more or less as before.

For the customer, the biggest change is that, with a locally regulated market, one should turn to the Swedish Lottery Inspectorate instead of the Maltese MGA.

It is difficult to say whether the new regulation will have any effect. At Betsson we have worked with responsible gaming for a very long time and we want to do our utmost in the field. In Swedish society, one is very interested in this issue, and I think we are well positioned in view of the hard and ambitious work we have put down.

That is an interesting question. Svenska Spel will continue to carry out a large part of its operations under the monopoly, and then they will have some that they compete with us and others. The important thing for us and the industry is to ensure that they do not support their competitive activities through the part that is still protected by the monopoly. They have several thousand stores and also gaming machines and casinos. There must be a clear line between the different parts of their business, and that it is maintained is something we need to be vigilant about.