(thing) by mdn Sat Mar 23 2002 at 23:15:12

AB Svenska Spel is a company wholly owned by the Swedish government. They have monopoly on all sports betting in Sweden. (Except for betting on horse-racing, that matter is taken care of by ATG.) The company was formed in 1996 with the merger of the two companies AB Tipstjänst, the company which at that time had the monopoly on all sports betting and Penninglotteriet, Sweden's at that time largest lottery company. Svenska Spel's market-share is 42 percent.

Their products are sold through a network of about 6700 agents around Sweden. Roughly half of them have all products in Svenska Spel's product line. The agents who have the entire product line are connected to Svenska Spel's main computer via an on-line terminal.

The terminal is known as Spectra II and is manufactured by GTech. The Spectra II uses the X.25 protocol to communicate with the main computer over a 9600 BPS leased line connected to Telia's Datapak network.

The agents who sell only lottery tickets or have slot machines have a much simpler on-line terminal, known as GVT. It is made only for reporting winning lottery tickets and ordering new ones. Except for the lottery tickets and the slot machines, all games are played through the Spectra II.

Svenska Spel's 2001 turnover was 15.6 billion SEK, 8.5 billion of those went back to the customers in the form of winnings. The profit, 3.8 billion SEK went to the government. This makes gambling in Sweden literally a tax on the stupid.

Even though Svenska Spel has got a monopoly and competing with them would be illegal, they face heavy competition from Internet based companies. The two largest Internet companies aimed at the Swedish market are Ladbroke's and Unibet.

Svenska Spel's main office is in Visby, Gotland. (Penninglotteriet's former HQ.) Most of their about 550 employees work either there or at their branch office in Sundbyberg outside Stockholm. (Tipstjänst's former HQ.)

Svenska Spel's product line: (Will be noded when I get the time)

  • Sports games
  • Luck-based games
    • Lotto
    • Viking Lotto (sic)
    • Lotto Express
    • Keno
    • Joker
    • Söndagsbingo (the game formerly known as Tipsbingo)
  • Lottery tickets
    • Triss
    • Tia
    • Skrap-bingo
    • Penninglotteriet
  • Slot Machines (Only at restaurants and bars.)
    • Jack Vegas
    • Miss Vegas
  • Miscellaneous
    • Spelkortet
    • Lördagsgodis
    • Spelkanalen
    • Nacka
    • Hux-flux
    • Casino Cosmopol (Subsidiary)
    • Tips-SM

Sources:
http://www.svenskaspel.se
Stuff I've picked up along the way...

I like it!