Q3 online growth fails to offset continued land-based decline in Sweden

Revenue was 1.3% behind the SEK6.74 billion recorded during Q3 of 2023, Sweden regulator Spelinspektionen reports.

The figure also falls 3.4% short of SEK6.89 billion in Q2 of this year. On top of this, Q3 revenue was the lowest quarterly total since SEK6.58 billion was reported in Sweden in Q1 2023.

Commercial online gambling remains the primary source of gambling revenue in the country by some distance. During Q3, SEK4.33 billion of revenue was reported for this segment, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%. This includes internet-based casino and sports betting activity.

Land-based declines hit Sweden in Q3

However, declines were reported across almost all other sectors of the market. Revenue was down in many core land-based segments, with Svenska Spel’s Casino Cosmopol hit with a 76.5% revenue decline to SEK31 million. This is the lowest monthly amount on record, with the exception of during the Covid-19 pandemic when casinos were forced to temporarily close.

Revenue from state-owned lottery and physical slots games decreased 2.7% year-on-year to SEK1.36 billion. It remains the second-highest revenue source, although some way behind the online market.

Revenue from non-profit games and national lotteries also declined 0.6% to SEK818 million. Sweden has not seen revenue in this segment fall this low since Q1 of last year.

Community games and hall bingo revenue remained level at SEK50 million for Q3. However, land-based revenue for restaurant casinos dropped 6% to SEK63 million.

The decline in casino performance comes as no surprise given the closure of several of Svenska Spel’s venues earlier in the year. Casino Cosmopol venues in Gothenburg and Malmö shut in February on the back of limited profitability. This leaves the Casino Cosmopol in Stockholm as Svenska Spel’s only remaining casino location.

There is a chance the Casino Cosmopol brand could disappear in Sweden altogether. In May, the country’s government submitted a proposal to discontinue Casino Cosmopol’s business altogether. They argued it “no longer fulfils its purpose”, although a final decision is yet to be reached.

Aside from financial data, the regulator set out figures on self-exclusion. By the end of Q3, some 118,000 people were registered with the Spelpaus.se self-exclusion service, up 5.9% from Q2.