SBC News

Sweden has recorded total gross gaming revenues (GGR) of SEK 6.89bn (€602m) during Q2 2024.

The total GGR figure was revealed by the Gambling Inspectorate Spelinspektionen’s monitoring of gambling activities for Swedish licensed land-based and online businesses.

Q2’s GGR of SEK 6.89bn (€602m) surpasses the SEK6.71bn (€586.8m) recorded in Q2 2023 and is 3.3% higher than Q1 2024’s revenue of SEK6.67bn (€583.1m).

The inspectorate’s data reveals that Sweden has recorded its highest Q2 wagering activities since records began in 2019, corresponding with Sweden relaunching its gambling marketplace.

Online gambling, including Svenska Spel revenues, remains the largest revenue segment, generating a 9.2% increase in GGR to SEK 4.57bn (€399.4m). The outcome surpasses all previous quarterly results tracked by Spelinspektionen.

GGR figures recorded by Sweden’s national lottery declined by 7.5% to SEK1.29bn (€112.8m), marking its lowest quarter since Q1 2020.

Further segments saw state-owned C..

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) begins a new leadership era by welcoming Grainne Hurst as the CEO of the trade and standards body of UK gambling.

Announced in April, Hurst succeeds Michael Dugher as CEO, who, as part of a leadership restructure, chose to take on the role of Chairman.

The BGC describes Hurst as a ‘standout leader’ for UK gambling, possessing unparalleled experience and knowledge in the public affairs and political complexities of the industry.

Prior to the appointment, Hurst served as the Group Corporate Affairs Director of the FTSE100 gambling group Entain Plc. During her decade-long tenure, Hurst launched and oversaw the development of the Entain Foundation, a multi-million-pound sustainability initiative of the FTSE business, which is committed to raising £100m for ESG initiatives in the UK, Europe, North America, and Africa.

Additionally, Hurst led the expansion of the industry DEI organisation Global Gaming Women, where she is a board member. She currently..

UK broadcasting regulator Ofcom has recognised an improvement in Twitch’s accuracy in labelling mature content after reviewing the streaming platform’s classification guidelines.

In June 2023, Twitch updated its content classification guidelines due to a rise in content aimed at mature audiences, including gambling streams.

The platform now requires streamers to apply content classification labels that indicate the presence of mature themes in their streams.

Twitch provided streamers with six specific labels for mature content: mature-rated games, sexual themes, drugs, intoxication or excessive tobacco use, violent and graphic depictions, significant profanity or vulgarity, and gambling.

As the UK’s regulator for video-sharing platforms and online safety, Ofcom evaluated Twitch’s rule changes and published its findings earlier this month.

The 66-page report found that content labelling improved “significantly” after the introduction of CCLs, but noted that viewing behaviour and th..

GAMSTOP has reached the milestone of recording more than 500,000 registrations for its self-exclusion scheme for online gambling.

This morning, GAMSTOP, which operates the national self-exclusion scheme across all UK-licensed online gambling operators, stated that “half a million vulnerable consumers have registered with GAMSTOP since 2018.”

The milestone follows a record-breaking April, which saw GAMSTOP register 8,686 users, marking its highest-ever volume for self-exclusion.

At present, GAMSTOP has prevented more than 440,000 users from engaging with online gambling operators, half of whom have chosen the longest exclusion period of up to five years.

The announcement that half a million consumers have registered to self-exclude comes ahead of the third annual Self-Exclusion Day on September 12th, when clubs from all divisions in the football pyramid will come together to raise awareness about GAMSTOP among their supporters.

Self-exclusion messaging will be displayed at EFL foot..

2024 sees the UK gambling sector stand at a point of inflection, marked by intense competition and yet-to-be-settled regulatory proceedings.

In an exclusive interview for the SBC Summit, Steve Birch, Chief Commercial Officer of Sky Betting & Gaming (Sky Bet), underscores a proactive approach to mitigating challenges, based on customer trust, sustainability, and compliance-first innovations.

SBC: Hi Steve, thanks for this interview on the status of UK gambling. From your perspective, what elements and dynamics are at play in the UK market in 2024?

Steve Birch (CCO @ Sky Betting and Gaming): The market is as competitive as it has ever been, with all the big operators upping their game in terms of what they offer. Across the sector, we are also generally seeing more focus on the return on investment of campaigns and product developments. This comes at a time when operators are rightly continuing to focus more on looking after customers. It’s a fascinating time to be working in the UK ..