Illegal gambling operators using licensed platform providers, ATG claims

• ATG has sounded an alarm over unlicensed gambling operators in Sweden
• 17 out of 20 offshore websites offer casino games that are otherwise licensed in the country
• ATG has also criticized the channelization rate in Q4

A new report by Swedish’s state-owned gambling major, Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp, has raised concerns over the proliferation of offshore gambling sites that utilize software providers licensed in the country, according to a new report.

ATG says 17 out of 20 offshore websites offer casino games licensed in Sweden

ATG, which is short for the operator, has said that out of 20 popular gambling sites in the country at least 17 used software that is otherwise utilized by licensed operators. Sweden particularly re-regulated its market a few years back to ensure that this is not the case and that suppliers who apply for a license must make sure that their games and products are not accessible to offshore gambling sites.

The report also looks into the country’s channelization, a special metric that is used in regulated metrics to estimate whether a market – following a legalization – achieves its stated goal – to provide players with a safe and responsible gambling environment, which is what legal businesses are.

According to ATG, its Q4 report estimated that Sweden’s channelization is anything between 69% and 82%, a far cry from the 90% that the regulator and state have set out to achieve. The 69% cited by ATG, though may be a tad too low, with previous reports by the operator placing the rate of channelization closer to 82% or higher.

However, channelization may vary depending on the vertical that players engage in. In the previous quarterly report by ATG, covering Q3, the company argued that the casino channelization rate was anything between 59% and 74%, but much better for sports betting products – around 79% and 88%, which is already on track to hit the benchmark set by the country. Channelization is not a unique Swedish problem, however.

Germany, the Netherlands, and other jurisdictions are looking to address this as well. ATG, however, notably discovered that the number of offshore casinos using licensed products and offering them in Swedish without a proper license from the Spelinspektionen was significant, the aforementioned 17 out of 20 websites.

In the case of six identified websites, direct websites were offered to Swedish players through BankID, a popular payment method used in the country and the regulated sector.

ATG vows to help tackle illegal gambling and bring more people to the regulated market

The ATG then proceeded to name specific brands, naming Lucky Jungle dot com and Unlimit Casino dot com as two of the alleged wrongdoers.

The report estimated traffic data for them, arguing that Lucky Jungle had reached 147,284 visits during Q4. Unlimited Casino had 113,002 visits during the surveyed period.

ATG further criticized the fact that so many illegal gambling websites were able to operate within the country and secure an "unreasonably" large swathe of the market as per ATG’s boss, Hasse Lord Skarplöth.

Skarplöth said that the operator would pursue to similarly contribute to the eradication of the illegal gambling sector from Sweden, and fight for a market in which the channelization runs through the regulated market.

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