Part 1: Introduction – piecing together the Nordic jigsaw
Part 1
Introduction – piecing together
the Nordic jigsaw
First with Denmark in 2012 and now with Sweden that the unregulated online market is worth circa
in January 2019, the Nordic market is gradually 25% of that, or circa SEK5.65bn (€545m).
However, others with knowledge of the market
opening up to regulated online gambling, and
with this shift comes a greater understanding of spoken to for this report have suggested the
the value of the individual markets. market could be worth anything up to SEK9bn.
While Norway remains the standout restrictive
Without any further guidance – and bearing
gambling market – it has instigated payment in mind the known unknowns of the Swedish
blocking, for instance – Sweden was always a revenues for the long tail of Nordic-facing
(light) grey market and is arguably the most offerings – it is impossible to establish either way
competitive market in the region. whether the SEK5.65bn is too low. For the sake
Denmark – though small — has demonstrated
of simplicity, we have opted to use the
that newly regulated markets can perform well. SEK5.65bn figure as the base number for our
In the seven years since regulation the total market share estimates later in the report.
When it comes to product splits, there is a
online market, as measured by gross gaming
revenue (GGR), has grown by more than 250% skew among the listed Nordic operators towards
or an average of more than 20% per annum gaming over sports betting. A comparison
(see Figure 1). between Kindred and Betsson, for instance,
shows a wide disparity in the percentage
Operators in Sweden would be very happy
with such a growth path. The Swedish Gaming of revenues from sports – 46% for Kindred
Board (Lotteriinspektionen) said the total compared with just over 31% for Betsson –
Swedish gaming market – online and land-based while other listed Nordic operators don’t
– was worth SEK22.6bn. Of that, the board provide a split at all, suggesting they are
estimates (using H2 Gambling Capital figures) overwhelmingly gaming.
Figure 1: Denmark online growth 2012-17
Product GGR (DKKm)
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
Sports betting* 453 614 905 1,174 1,413 1,530
Casino 650 795 891 1,144 1,415 1,675
Poker 220 195 167 165 148 132
1,323 1,604 1,962 2,482 2,976 3,337
281 358 520 494 361
21.24 22.34 26.49 19.89 12.13
Total
YoY growth
YoY growth (%)
*Estimates for online sports betting based on stated stakes percentage.
Source: Danish gambling regulator
iGaming Business Market Monitor • The Nordics • May 2018
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