Representatives of the Norwegian Conservative Party have once again brought Norsk Tipping’s monopoly into question.
Speaking to local media, Tage Pettersen, Conservative MP, explained his rationale as to why now is the right time to transition towards a mnulti-licensed market.
In short, the politician said that Norway is now one of the few European states to still cling on to the monopoly system – and with Finland heading towards an open market by 2027 it will become the only such country in the Nordics.
Pettersen suggested that Norway should follow others’ examples, because other transitions from monopolies to multi-licence markets have proven profitable once completed.
He said: “In Finland, which is phasing out the monopoly scheme from 202, it is expected to increase the gambling funds for sports and volunteering by three billion kroner (£217.5m) annually by reregulating the gambling policy to a licensing scheme.
“In Norway, we can now create the best model based on the experiences from Denmark, Sweden and Finland. No one in these countries is advocating a return to a monopoly!”
Gambling harms
As with every regulated market, problem gambling is expected to take a central stage during the debates as to whether or not Norway should introduce multi-licensing.
According to Pettersen, more operators on the market means more combined powers to tackle the problem more effectively thanks to the expanded collaborative efforts.
“Norway is at the top when it comes to gambling problems in the Nordic countries, despite some decline in recent years,” he added. “This means that the current model is not good enough at taking care of the players who have problems.
“In a licensing [regime], all gaming companies will be equally responsible for reacting and initiating measures when there are signs of problem gambling.”
Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm, Secretary General of the Norwegian Online Gaming Industry Association (NBO), is also supportive of abolishing Norsk Tipping’s regime in favor of optimising player safeguards.
He commented: “All companies that are members of NBO have very good systems and routines for detecting – and preventing – problem gamblers.
“In practice, these are large departments and advanced digital solutions that have this as their sole task. It is a myth that the large international companies are worse at responsible gambling than Norsk Tipping.
“My members collaborate with the same researchers and suppliers in this field. No one benefits from problem gambling, and as we see in countries with a licensing model, gambling problems have been reduced precisely because serious companies get a larger share of the market.”
Support for Norsk Tipping
It is worth noting that there are still quite a number of vocal supporters backing Norsk Tipping. Most recently, a letter was co-signed by 74 organisations approving the state operator’s current work.
One of them is the Norwegian Sports Federation (NIF). In a public statement, the body’s Secretary General, Else-Marthe Sørlie Lybekk, said: “We cannot be indifferent to how we are financed. A licensing model will result in more problematic gaming behavior and less money for socially beneficial purposes.
“NIF is for responsibility and profits for socially beneficial purposes – that is why we are in favor of the Norwegian model for gambling.”
Further support came from the volunteer addiction support organisation, Blue Cross Norway, and its Secretary General, Trine Stensen.
“We treat people with gambling addiction, and know that Norwegian regulation has a lot to say,” the representative commented.
“The majority of those who come to us have lost a lot of money with foreign gaming companies, which do not have the same accountability rules as the Norwegian [companies].
“Rather than opening the market to foreign gaming companies, we believe it is right to focus on measures that improve the protection and treatment of people with gambling addiction.”