ATG – FairOdds Network

April 11, 2025

Swedish government loosens grip on ATG ownership

The Swedish government is relinquishing control of racing monopoly ATG as part of a new agreement which calls for its board to have fully independent members.

The Swedish government has made the agreement with Svensk Travsport and Svensk Galopp, both of which share ownership of ATG. The state announced on 10 April that the agreement reduces government control over ATG.

ATG was first founded in 1974 to oversee and correct financial problems faced by equestrian sports at the time. Svensk Travsport and Svensk Galopp were in financial difficulties and the state decided it would be best to form a joint venture for horse betting. Any profits were intended for trotting and galloping sports and the Swedish horse industry national foundation.

The new agreement sees the Swedish government give up part of its controlling powers over ATG. As a result, it will no longer nominate ATG board members. Previously it had the power to appoint six of the 11 board members.

Moving forward, the board’s n..

March 13, 2025

Majority of popular illegal sites use licensed platforms in Sweden, reports ATG

New Q4 research from Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG) has suggested 17 out of 20 popular illegal gambling sites use the same platform providers as licensed operators.

Published yesterday (12 March), an ATG-led report covering illegal gambling activity during Q4 in Sweden reported online channelisation was between 69% and 82% during the period.

This is some way below the government’s long-term target of 90%, set in 2019, when the country opened its regulated online gambling market.

Q4 figures are only marginally better than the 70% and 82% range reported by ATG for Q3.

Unlicensed website traffic up tenfold since 2019

Setting out its findings for Q4, ATG said its data suggests traffic to unlicensed sites in Sweden has increased tenfold since regulation in 2019.

As was the case in Q3, channelisation for online casino was much lower than the rate for sports betting. ATG placed casino channelisation at between 59% and 74%, while sports betting was in a range of 79% to 88%.

The ope..

February 14, 2025

ATG CEO urges Swedish government to lower gambling tax for betting

Hasse Lord Skarplöth, chief executive of Swedish horse racing monopoly AB Trav och Galopp (ATG), has urged the government to drop its gambling tax for betting, following disappointing results in 2024.

Looking to how ATG performed in 2024, revenue for the 12 months to 31 December 2024 amounted to SEK6.19 billion (£459 million/€551 million/$577 million). This is 2.5% above the previous year. Net gaming revenue was largely flat, up 1.7% to SEK5.36 billion.

Revenue growth was enough to push operating profit up 1.4% to SEK1.81 billion for the 12-month period. After also including financial items, pre-tax profit topped SEK1.87 billion, up 1.8% year-on-year.

In ATG’s full-year presentation, published today (14 February), Skarplöth said growth could have been much greater had it not been impacted by Sweden’s gambling tax increase, which came into force in July.

Skarplöth said the recession, high household costs and higher interest rates had also hit ATG revenue in 2024.

Skarplöth urges re..

October 14, 2024

Weekend Report: Bet365 enters Peru, South Korean celebrities caught up in illegal betting case

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB looks at the news that you may have missed across Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week: Bet365 launches in Peru, a Pakistan cricket legend is under fire for new ambassador role and South Korean celebrities are swept up in illegal gambling.
Pakistan cricket legend faces backlash over betting ambassador role
Starting in Asia, Pakistan cricket captain Wasim Akram has come under fire for taking on a new betting ambassador role with Baji.

India-facing Baji offers online sports betting and casino and has enlisted several celebrities to help promote its services. Akram is among those to come on board despite Pakistan having placed restrictions on promoting gambling.

Fans took to social media to criticise Akram after he shared a promotional video on social media. Questions were also raised as to why Akram is working with an operator that is not licensed in Pakistan.

Bet365 makes Peru move
Meanwhile, in South America, Bet365 has announced the launc..

March 15, 2024

ATG calls on banks to help combat “worrying” Sweden channelisation rates

Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp’s (ATG) channelisation report for Q4 has shown a continuation of worsening channelisation rates in Sweden.

ATG’s report estimated channelisation rates for gaming to be between 69%-82% in Sweden during Q4. This falls well behind the Swedish’s government’s target of 90% channelisation to legal operators.

The channelisation rate has fallen since the third quarter of 2023. ATG believes there is little sign of the trend being halted.

ATG found visitor traffic to unlicensed operators has increased tenfold since 2019. The research also highlights that out of 20 unlicensed sites with the highest Q4 visitor traffic, 19 shared the same platform providers as licensed operators.

Additionally, of the 20 black-market sites included in the report, none were on the Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen’s banned list.

“It is a very worrying development and our investigation shows that more still needs to be done to keep the unlicensed companies away,” ATG chief executive ..

October 25, 2023

ATG bucks the Swedish market with big rise in profits

Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG) has welcomed a double-digit rise in operating profit despite challenging conditions that have caused the Swedish market to stall.

In a trading update for the three months to 30 September 2023, the state-owned betting business said net gaming revenue was up 4.5% to SEK1.35bn from SEK1.29bn last year. The second highest figure for a third quarter in ATG’s history came despite the Swedish market stalling in H1.

Total revenue for the three-month period was at SEK1.53bn, which was up 3.0% year-on-year. Net gaming revenue for racing was up by just over 1.8% to SEK1.02bn. Sports betting was also up slightly from SEK151m to SEK159m.

The group made an operating profit of SEK497m, which was up 13.7% year-on-year. The increase was in part down to a 3% reduction in operating expenses to SEK761m. ATG said the savings came from cutbacks in marketing and consultancy costs.

Economic concerns

“We’re growing revenue – net gaming revenue in the third quarter is his..

February 23, 2023

ATG CEO: FY22 results success despite “turbulent and troubled year”

Former Swedish trotting monopoly Aktiebolaget Trav och Galopp (ATG) has reported full-year 2022 revenue of SEK6.04bn (£480.9m/€546.5m), a slight decrease of 1.2% compared to 2021, despite a “turbulent and troubled” 2022.

The total revenue consists of net gaming revenue at SEK5.22bn, agency income of SEK234m and other incomes at SEK584bn.

Hasse Lord Skarplöth, CEO of ATG, said that the operator had delivered good results for the period – particularly in terms of sport and casino – regardless of outside challenges.

“I ended last year’s CEO speech by saying ‘we can look forward to an exciting 2022’,” said Skarplöth. “So, a year later, I can state that I got a little more right than I wanted – but in the wrong way.

“ATG, during such a turbulent and troubled year, succeeding in increasing the net gaming revenue in both sports and casino by 8% and 49%, respectively, is a well-approved result.”

Specifically, Skarplöth was referring to recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukrai..

October 24, 2022

ATG warns over impact of “global economic challenges”

Sweden’s former horse racing monopoly ATG said net gaming revenue was broadly level year-on-year during the first three quarters of its 2022 financial year, despite the impact of global economic challenges.

Total revenue for the nine months through to the end of September amounted to SEK3.9bn (£305.9m/€352.6m/$346.9m), a decrease of less than 1% on the same period last year.

ATG said that while the effects of the pandemic had continued to die down during the nine months, the business now faces wider challenges in the impact of the war in Ukraine and also global economic issues due to high inflation and the potential for an impending recession.

Chief financial officer Lotta Nilsson Viitala said it was difficult to estimate how much both of these factors would hit ATG, but admitted that the business would be impacted.

“We see tendencies towards our customers having less money left in the entertainment wallet,” Viitala said. “It is completely natural with the price increases and inte..

October 6, 2022

ATG chief slams bonuses as “embarrassing”

Hasse Lord Skarplöth, CEO of Swedish state-affiliated horse racing operator ATG, has said that bonuses are “embarrassing” and “drive gambling addiction” in a blistering critique of the common industry practice.

Bonuses are the practice of offering free or extra bets to consumers in order to attract or retain players to their platforms; with the method sometimes coming under criticism as an inducement that helps contribute to negative social responsibility outcomes.

Sweden has a stringent bonus regime, only allowing operators to offer one bonus per player at sign-up, worth no more than SEK100. This has been criticised by the Swedish Moderate Party – which have called for the rules to be reformed:

Hasse Lord Skarplöth

“This would make it easier for gaming companies to retain customers in the licensed market and have long-term relationships with the players, both of which increase consumer protection,” said the party.

Much of the industry has also opposed the bonus ban. However, as ..

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