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Svenska Spel Responds to Spelinspektionen’s Match-fixing Proposals

Published

6 years ago

February 18, 2020

Svenska Spel has hit out at Spelinspektionen’s (Swedish Gambling Authority) proposed measures to combat match-fixing in the country, arguing that the ban on betting on rule violations still leaves plenty of scope for manipulation.

Last month, Spelinspektionen put forward an amendment to Sweden’s gaming rules that would see operators prohibited from offering odds on rule violations, such as yellow cards in football or faults in tennis.

At the time, the regulator said the measure would help efforts to tackle match-fixing by removing any potential reward for athletes that commit certain acts for match-fixing purposes.

“Much sharper action is needed if we are to win the fight against the match fixes; one of these is to ban all easily manipulated gaming objects. The proposal provides apparent protection, but will in practice have a very limited effect. We therefore propose a tightening of the regulations and hope that Spelinspektionen will take our views into consideration,” Patrik Hofbauer, Chief executive of Svenska Spel, said.

“Games on corners and throw-ins are at least as easy to manipulate, so the logic of this boundary is difficult to see. Instead, we think that [betting on] all easily manipulated game events should be banned,” Hofbauer added.

Hofbauer also raised concerns that the proposed bans would only apply to sports events taking place in Sweden, whereas games and competitions being played elsewhere would not be covered by the measures.

As such, Hofbauer and Svenska Spel put forward alternative measures for the regulator to consider. First, the operator said that the ban should apply to all events in a game or competitions that can be easily manipulated.

The operator said the ban should extend to all gambling businesses that hold a licence in Sweden, rather than sports events taking place in the country. Svenska Spel also said bookmakers should be limited to the events they can offer betting on, with the operator saying that the higher the level of the sport or event in question, the harder it is to manipulate the results.

In addition, Svenska Spel said licensed operators should be required to report all suspicious events to the regulator immediately, rather than just once per year as proposed by Spelinspektionen.

Spelinspektionen’s proposals also attracted criticism from Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS), Sweden’s trade association for online gambling, which said that by bringing bets on these events out of the regulated market, the authorities would lose the ability to monitor suspicious betting on events and to effectively police match-fixing.

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BLAST

BLAST opens New York HQ as 2025 revenue tops $133m on 40%+ growth

Published

29 minutes ago

July 1, 2026

Wladimir P.

blast-opens-new-york-hq-as-2025-revenue-tops-$133m-on-40%+-growth

Esports and live events operator says it stayed profitable in 2025 and plans 15 arena events across 13 cities in 2026.

BLAST has opened a New York City headquarters in Brooklyn as the company reported record growth and profitability in 2025, including more than $133 million in revenue and over 40% year-over-year growth.

The new U.S. headquarters is located at 45 Main Street in Brooklyn within a shared 55,000-square-foot office space. BLAST said the hub will support partnerships, live events and commercial growth across North America as it expands its U.S. operations.

The North American push is being led by Chief Business Officer Leo Matlock, who has relocated to New York, alongside Steve Rossi, who joined earlier this year as SVP of Brand Partnerships. BLAST said its U.S. team has grown to eight full-time employees.

BLAST said it has staged seven tier-one esports events in North America over the past 16 months, across Austin, Fort Worth, Boston, Raleigh, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City. The company cited “more than $102 million” in economic impact from the 2025 BLAST.tv Austin Major alone, including more than $9 million in hotel expenditures. It also recently announced the Rocket League World Championship will return to Fort Worth in September 2026.

In 2025, BLAST said its broadcasts delivered more than 2 billion live views globally and 300 million hours watched, spanning live events in 22 cities worldwide. The company also said it distributes content via 29 broadcast partners, including SuperSport, France TV and RTBF, reaching audiences in more than 150 territories and 30+ languages.

“Competitive entertainment has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in global media because it combines community, technology and live experiences in entirely new ways,” said Robbie Douek, CEO of BLAST. “The next generation of fans want entertainment that feels participatory, social and global by default. That shift is creating enormous opportunities for brands, publishers, creators and host cities, and we believe BLAST is uniquely positioned to help lead that evolution after a landmark year in 2025.” BLAST said it plans to host 15 arena events across 13 cities and three continents in 2026.

The post BLAST opens New York HQ as 2025 revenue tops $133m on 40%+ growth appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.

BLAST

BLAST reports 40% revenue growth in 2025, opens New York headquarters

Published

29 minutes ago

July 1, 2026

GamingAmericas.com

blast-reports-40%-revenue-growth-in-2025,-opens-new-york-headquarters

BLAST, the Denmark-founded competitive entertainment and esports events company, reported record growth and continued profitability in 2025 and said it has opened a New York headquarters as it expands across North America.

The company said it delivered more than 40% year-over-year growth and generated more than $133 million in revenue in 2025, while remaining profitable and continuing to invest in global expansion. BLAST said its U.S. headquarters at 45 Main Street in Brooklyn sits within a shared 55,000-square-foot office space and will serve as its central base for partnerships, live events and commercial growth across North America.

The expansion is being led by Chief Business Officer Leo Matlock, who has relocated to New York, and Steve Rossi, who joined earlier this year as SVP of Brand Partnerships. BLAST said its U.S. team has grown to eight full-time employees.

BLAST pointed to recent North American activity, saying it has hosted seven tier-one esports events across Austin, Fort Worth, Boston, Raleigh, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City over the past 16 months. The company said these events have generated economic impact for host destinations, including more than $102 million from the 2025 BLAST.tv Austin Major alone, including more than $9 million in hotel expenditures. BLAST also said the Rocket League World Championship will return to Fort Worth in September 2026.

On content reach, BLAST said its 2025 broadcasts delivered more than 2 billion live views globally and 300 million hours watched across live events in 22 cities, distributed through 29 broadcast partners across online platforms and linear broadcasters. “We’re seeing tremendous momentum globally and all across North America, not just in esports fandom, but in how brands, game publishers, cities and entertainment companies are thinking about gaming culture, engaging competitions and digital-first audiences,” said Leo Matlock, Chief Business Officer at BLAST. The company said it plans to host 15 arena events across 13 cities and three continents in 2026.

The post BLAST reports 40% revenue growth in 2025, opens New York headquarters appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.

analytics

Flashscore: 1.99m UK users track World Cup group stage ahead of England v DR Congo

Published

1 hour ago

July 1, 2026

Wladimir P.

flashscore:-1.99m-uk-users-track-world-cup-group-stage-ahead-of-england-v-dr-congo

Flashscore says 1.99 million UK users followed the World Cup group stage on its app and website between 11 June and 28 June, generating 264.1 million views ahead of England’s Round of 32 match against DR Congo in Atlanta on 1 July.

In the UK, England was the most-tracked team with 872,900 profile opens, followed by Scotland with 394,200, according to the company’s dataset. Flashscore said England fixtures took the top three spots for UK user engagement, led by the group-stage match against Croatia with 631,684 users and 2.9 million views. The other two most-viewed England games were against Ghana (2.21 million views) and Panama (2.05 million views).

Flashscore also published global figures for the group stage, reporting 7.16 billion views from 62.26 million unique users. Portugal was the most-followed nation worldwide on Flashscore with 11.2 million team profile opens, ahead of Brazil (9.1 million), France (8.7 million), Spain (7.8 million) and Argentina (7.7 million). England ranked eighth globally with 6.5 million profile opens.

The company highlighted Cape Verde as one of the tournament’s “surprise stories”, placing sixth globally by team views and fourth among UK users. Flashscore also released a “Team of the Group Stage” selected using its new “Flashscore Rating”, which it said analyses more than 70 on-ball and off-ball metrics. Erling Haaland was rated 9.0, with Lionel Messi (8.9) and Kylian Mbappe (8.6) also included in the attacking trio, while Marc Guehi (8.4) was the only England player selected.

The post Flashscore: 1.99m UK users track World Cup group stage ahead of England v DR Congo appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.