Sweden Gaming Industry Gold Mine?

Former Unibet chief executive Petter Nylander is the founder of Rent Spel (meaning Fair Play). It comprises of different Swedish parties interested in the egaming industry.

Rent Spel’s Professor Henrik Jordahl requested a report on internet gambling in Sweden based on research done by the Stockholm based Research Institute of Industrial Economics. The report’s findings indicated that 26% of all gambling done in Sweden is via the internet. In Sweden internet casinos is one of the largest employers, hence the reason Professor Jordahl prompted the Swedish government to push internet gambling more.

The report indicated that internet gambling in Sweden is huge in comparison to other European countries. Gambling operators in Sweden, apart from the state owned Svenska Spel’s total market cap comes to SEK19 billion. Online casinos employ roughly 2,000 employees, in addition to this government gaming operations employs another 2,500 people.

The report also pointed out that Swedish car manufacturer Saab employs just as many people as the internet gambling industry. In the report Jordahl indicates that the video gaming entertainment industry further cements the technological prowess of Swedish ingenuity. In all honesty Jordahl said the internet gambling industry is more profitable and it employs highly skilled individuals.

Jordahl goes further, stating that the Swedish government should aggressively pursue and liberalize internet gambling because of its untapped monetary potential. As a result of Sweden not issuing licenses to private internet casinos, the likes of Betsson and Net Entertainment now operate in Malta as opposed to Sweden. It stands to reason that the Swedish government is losing millions, because other jurisdictions are attracting competent Swedish specialists. Sweden’s restrictive stance toward advertising gambling sites is another reason why the country is dipping out on potential revenue.

Local Swedish newspaper publicized research done by the Research Institute of Industrial Economics. It reported that the Swedish government through its National Pension Fund has a large stake in operators like Unibet, Betsson, Net Entertainment and Ladbrokes. It indicated the government’s share could be valued at SEK972 million. To top it all,these operators have not been granted licenses to operate in Sweden.

The last part of the report states that the Swedish government should get its act together and start revitalizing its internet gambling industry, so that it could compete with the rest of Europe.