Despite ongoing regulatory efforts and several enforcement attempts from the Swedish Gambling Authority, Swedish players continue to play on unlicensed online gambling sites.
In its latest quarterly report, ATG reveals that visits from Swedish users to offshore gambling platforms have increased tenfold since 2019, marking one of the most significant challenges to the country’s regulated gambling framework since its introduction six years ago
The findings underscore a widening gap between the intended effects of Sweden’s gambling legislation and the realities of today’s rapidly evolving online casino and betting ecosystem.
Channelisation Fails to Meet Targets
Sweden’s channelisation rate is a key metric for the Swedish government. The rate shows the ratio of gambling activity that occurs on licensed online casinos. According to ATG’s Q3 2025 analysis, the current channelisation rate is somewhere between 74% and 85%, depending on assumptions about player spending.
It represents a modest improvement compared with the 70 to 82% range recorded in Q3 2024, but it still falls short of the government's 90% target for a healthy regulated market.
Also, ATG reports that casino-related channelisation remains significantly lower than for sports betting, continuing a trend observed since the 2019 re-regulation. As an online casino is the primary product offered by most offshore operators, this uneven channelisation continues to erode the strength of the regulated sector.
The financial implications for Sweden shouldn’t be underestimated. ATG estimates that the unlicensed market accounts for SEK 3.5 to 6.9 billion annually, or the equivalent of SEK 60 to 120 billion in gross revenue, taking away revenue that would otherwise be taxed or monitored under Swedish consumer protection standards.
How Unlicensed Platforms Keep Growing
The report also dives into how unlawful operators have evolved to imitate licensed casinos. Thus, it has made it increasingly difficult for consumers to find the difference between legal and illegal options.
Among the 20 most visited unlicensed sites in Q3 2025:
- 16 sites use the same major platform providers as Swedish-licensed casinos
- 8 sites offer direct deposits and withdrawals via BankID, enabled through the payment technology company Krofort
- 3 sites are listed on Spelinspektionen’s prohibition list. But, they still attract substantial Swedish traffic
These findings illustrate the complex methods used by offshore operators to circumvent both technical blocks and consumer awareness campaigns. For instance, BankID functionality allows unlicensed platforms to offer instant transactions, which is appealing for numerous Swedish players.
ATG further highlighted that this technical similarity “levels the playing field” between regulated and unregulated operators, giving offshore brands an unfair competitive advantage, as they operate without the strict responsible gambling rules that bind their licensed counterparts.
Rapidly Growing Offshore Group
ATG’s data shows an especially rapid rise among operators connected to Infiniza Limited, which controls several of the highest-traffic unlicensed sites.
The top three sites in Q3 2025, unlimitcasino.com, luckyjungle.com, and refuelcasino.com, all belong to the same network. These sites each registered between 140,000 and 174,000 Swedish visits in the quarter, making them the clear leaders in unlicensed engagement
Some of these brands grew from virtually zero presence to six-figure quarterly visitor numbers within a year, a trajectory that ATG describes as mirroring earlier growth patterns in the same operator family.
The report emphasises that this cluster effect accelerates the expansion of the unregulated market, allowing certain offshore groups to rapidly build dominance.
Dip in 2024, but Still Above 2019 Levels
ATG’s longitudinal data shows that while traffic to unlicensed sites has dipped slightly during 2024 and early 2025, the overall trend remains deeply concerning.
Some of the key observations include:
- The total number of visits to unlicensed sites per quarter has grown steadily from 2019 through 2023
- A slight reduction happened during 2024 and into 2025
- Even with this decrease, the level remains vastly higher than at the time of market re-regulation six years ago
Considering that the 2019 reform was intended to curb unlicensed play, which was then driven by a channelisation rate below 50%, ATG argued that the current situation represents a clear setback for Swedish gambling policy objectives.
Problem Gambling Linked to Offshore Traffic
ATG’s report conveys a strong message regarding the relationship between unlicensed gambling and consumer harm. The organisation states that a significant share of Sweden’s problem gamblers are active on offshore sites, where no Swedish consumer protections, deposit limits, or accountability mechanisms apply.
ATG’s CEO, Hasse Lord Skarplöt, described the Q3 findings as alarming and stressed the need for intensified efforts to combat unlawful gaming:
“We want people to feel well in their gambling. And we work for a gambling market that is healthier tomorrow than it is today. We will do everything we can to continue the fight against unlicensed gambling day by day, month by month, until licensed operators have a monopoly on gambling in Sweden.” Skarplöth said in the statement.
Regulatory Crossroads
The Q3 2025 results add new urgency to ongoing political debates around the Swedish gambling framework. Strategies currently under consideration include:
- Expanding payment blocking
- Imposing stricter platform-level interventions
- Increasing penalties for illegal targeting
- Enhancing consumer communication around unlicensed risks
- Evaluating bonus and product restrictions that may push consumers offshore
ATG’s report suggests that without stronger measures, the unlicensed sector will continue to attract Swedish players at high levels, particularly in online casino, threatening both public health goals and state tax revenues.
