Part 4: Swedish market analysis
Hero Gaming Taking the game to Sweden
Another organisation leading the Nordic The pale grey nature of the Swedish online
innovation wave, Hero Gaming runs the lauded market has meant that in terms of non-Nordic
Casino Heroes site as well as the betting brands, there is a preponderance of names that
proposition Betser. Again, it is likely the two are clearly working within the region. All of the
sites have grabbed a slice of the Swedish overall big European-facing operators have a foothold
market but without knowing anything further, the in Sweden, with the Ladbrokes, William Hill
company also remains in the ‘others’ category. and Betfair brands all prominent in the affiliate
advertising space. Naturally, bet365 is prominent
Aspire Global among the sports betting brands available but its
The company behind Karamba and other sites relatively underpowered gaming operation means
(including joint ventures), Aspire is listed on it suffers in a casino-led market as Sweden.
the Nasdaq First North Premier and gives B2C
Of the gaming-led brands available to the
revenues (€34.8m in 2017) but no further detail Swedish audience, JackpotJoy with its own
than that. It also straddles both B2C and B2B. brand as well as Vera & John (which originated
as more of a Scandinavian-facing brand anyway)
BetHard has a strong presence in the Nordics. The
This new company has made something of a company said its combined brand revenues from
splash in recent months having hired Zlatan Sweden were circa 10% of total group revenues
Ibrahimovic as a brand ambassador (and in both 2016 and 2017, or circa £26.7m and
minority shareholder) and if publicity is the aim, £30.6m, respectively.
then the partnership is already paying off with
888 is also strong in the region, although it
the football star having already engaged in a does not break down its revenues regionally, while
Twitter spat with the Swedish gambling minister. as with everywhere else Stars Group dominates
the (still popular) Swedish poker market.
The long tail
As for further market entrants, there is more
Looking beyond these names, elsewhere on than a suggestion that any potential regulated
the various Nordic- and Swedish-facing affiliate market competitors from outside of the region
sites appear a long list of sites and operators are already present within the market.
which garner an indeterminate amount of
Asked whether he envisaged some new
revenues from Sweden. The various EveryMatrix entrants from further afield, Erik Skarp, chief
brands are predominant (all Malta-domiciled) executive at BetHard, says that if he had to
but there is also a fair smattering of Curacao- bet on it he would say no. “The main reason
domiciled offerings, which, to a greater or for that is that Sweden is a forerunner in terms
lesser degree, can be presumed to be aimed of digitalisation and with that said a lot of the
the Nordic territories. revenue has already gone online.”
JackpotJoy Sweden revenues 2016 2017
Total gaming revenues (£m) 266.9 304.6
10 10
Total Sweden (£m) 26.7 30.5
SEK 366 271
% Sweden
Est. Swedish market share %
6.5
Source: Company reports, Market Monitor Swedish market estimates
iGaming Business Market Monitor • The Nordics • May 2018
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