Revolutionising the betting sector
PONTUS LINDWALL: POSITIONING BETSSON AS A LEADING TECHNOLOGY COMPANY THE BETSSON CEO walks us through the ups and downs
of his career, building the company into a global technology brand and how the growing influence of the internet has revolutionised the gambling industry BY ERIN GALLAGHER
T
he gambling industry has changed substantially over the last few years, most notably with the growing influence of the online sphere on how we consume information and entertainment. Speaking to SBC Leaders, Lindwall explained that when he first entered the online gambling industry in 1996, the sector was very much in its infancy. But fast forward 26 years and the internet has become an integral part of our daily lives. He began: “I first entered the online gambling industry in 1996 but there wasn’t really an industry to speak of at that time. That is why I founded Net Entertainment – which ultimately became NetEnt – so that I could establish a business that offered internet gaming. “I could see huge potential for this, but we had to do everything from the ground up. This meant building a team, developing the software and creating the games. “A couple of years into doing this, I realised we could resell our platform and games to other operators and that is when we established a B2B division and we eventually distributed Net Entertainment to our shareholders. Although Betsson Group’s origins started in 1963, the company started operating online in 2000.” In the early to mid-nineties, Lindwall
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continued, very few internet-based companies - if any - were operating in the black. But by drawing upon his background in technology, and his strong knowledge of the gambling industry, the CEO believed that this was a sector which had huge potential. “In the early to mid-nineties, the internet was not that well established and penetration was low. There were a few companies that were based on the internet but hardly any – if any – were profitable.
POLITICIANS AND LAWMAKERS HAVE COME TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE INDUSTRY IS SUBSTANTIAL AND CONTINUES TO GROW, AND THAT IT IS BIG ENOUGH FOR THEM TO HAVE TO CARE ABOUT IT “But having a technical background, I knew that this would change and that the internet had the potential to revolutionise the way we purchased products and accessed entertainment. I had some knowledge of the gambling industry and truly felt that online gambling would become a significant industry as the internet became more widely available and used. “The main difference between now and then is that there is an industry today. When I was starting out, there was no such thing as operators and
suppliers. Most companies built their own software and developed their own games. Since then, the industry has matured and out of that maturity specialist suppliers emerged and the landscape became what it is today.” In tandem with ongoing technological developments, the regulatory landscape has also experienced constant change. Anticipating such shifts, Betsson ensured that it was one step ahead by gaining a Malta Gaming Authority licence. “In addition, back in the early days there was little to no regulation. We could see that this would likely change and in the early noughties that is exactly what happened,” Lindwall said. “We secured our Malta licence in 2004. After this, the topic of regulation started being discussed on a European level and progress started to be made in other countries – although the next one (Italy) only came in 2011. This trend has continued over the last decade and now we are seeing more and more jurisdictions embrace regulation and licensing. “The industry has obviously grown over the years, and this has led to a shift from companies being small and entrepreneurial to established and publicly listed. This, in turn, has been a driver of local regulations. “Over the years, politicians and lawmakers have come to understand that the industry is substantial and continues to grow, and that it is big enough for them to have to care about it. This is not only from the perspective of protecting consumers but also unlocking the tremendous tax revenues the sector generates on an annual basis.” In 2022, Betsson now holds licences in 20 markets - a considerable jump
