The Administrative Court of Appeal (Kammarrätten) in Jönköping, Sweden, has affirmed the decision of the gambling regulator Spelinspektionen to deny a licence for electronic bingo terminals outside traditional bingo halls. The ruling, released on Tuesday, confirmed the regulator's jurisdiction to regulate where bingo may be legally offered under Sweden’s Gaming Act. This decision overturned an earlier ruling by another Administrative Court in Linköping from November 2024, which had favored the proposed retail bingo operation.
The controversy dates back to June 2023 when Föreningen Idrottens Spel i Sverige submitted an application to operate charitable bingo via electronic terminals at around 297 retail locations across Sweden, predominantly in small shops and kiosks. Their plan aimed to bring bingo outside the conventional arena of bingo halls.
On March 21, 2024, Spelinspektionen rejected this licence application, expressing concerns that non-temporary bingo outside traditional settings would not comply with the statutory suitability requirements outlined in chapter 3, section 1 of the Gaming Act (2018:1138). These requirements assert that gambling must be exceptionally safe, prioritize consumer protection, limit the negative impacts of gambling, and ensure that gambling does not facilitate criminal activities. The regulator emphasized public interest, particularly regarding increased accessibility for children and young people in retail spaces where social control is notably lower.
In contrast, the November 2024 ruling from the Administrative Court in Linköping sided with the operator, arguing that the Gaming Act did not explicitly limit non-temporary bingo to traditional environments and allowed for flexibility in response to market changes. This ruling had initially remitted the case for further examination, effectively nullifying the regulator’s earlier rejection.
After this verdict, Spelinspektionen filed an appeal. The Kammarrätten has now reversed the November ruling, reinstating the original denial of the licence. The appeals court underlined that the Gaming Act exhibits a restrictive stance towards self-service gambling terminals, including explicit regulations on where gaming machines can be located. Although some exceptions exist for bingo, it is traditionally meant to occur in settings with strong social control, such as bingo halls or licensed dining establishments.
The court supported the regulator’s assertion that placing bingo terminals in retail kiosks would compromise the protective environment that lawmakers originally intended. The proposed operational model would drastically change the current bingo system, expanding from approximately 50 traditional bingo venues to nearly 300 dispersed retail locations. Consequently, the appeals court found sufficient justifications based on the statutory suitability criteria to deny the licence. The operator expressed concerns that the ruling could jeopardize the viability of bingo in Sweden and diminish essential funding sources.
