Sweden’s Final Shuffle: Why the Government Is Ending All Land-Based Casino Gambling
- Gaming Eminence
- Apr 11
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 13
Sweden has voted to permanently close its last remaining casino, marking a bold departure from land-based gambling in favour of a fully digital future. This article unpacks the government’s rationale, the economic and regulatory forces behind the move, and what it signals for the next era of gambling — where algorithms replace roulette wheels, and compliance code takes centre stage.
On April 2, 2025, Sweden’s parliament (the Riksdag) dealt a final hand to the nation’s brick-and-mortar casinos. Lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to abolish licensed land-based casino gambling, a decision that will shutter Casino Cosmopol in Stockholm – the country’s last remaining casino – by January 1, 2026. From that date forward, no operator (public or private) will be permitted to run a casino on Swedish soil. The government declared that traditional casinos “no longer serve [their] purpose,” pointing to years of declining profitability and dwindling visitor numbers at Casino Cosmopol’s properties. In effect, Sweden has chosen to cash out of the land-based casino business entirely, cementing a historic policy shift that has ripple effects across the gambling sector.
Parliament Pulls the Plug on Casinos
“State companies should not operate casinos.”— Niklas Wykman, Sweden’s Financial Markets Minister
The Riksdag’s decision effectively writes the epilogue for Casino Cosmopol, the state-run casino brand operated by the gambling monopoly Svenska Spel. Once a small chain of four government-owned casinos, Casino Cosmopol had already seen its lights wink out one by one in recent years.
Sweden’s Casino Closures: A Timeline
Year | Event |
|---|---|
2001 | First Casino Cosmopol opens in Sundsvall |
2002–2003 | Additional casinos open in Malmö, Gothenburg, and Stockholm |
2020 | Sundsvall location permanently closed |
Jan 2024 | Malmö and Gothenburg casinos shut down due to unsustainable losses |
April 2025 | Parliament votes to abolish land-based casino licenses entirely |
Jan 2026 | Stockholm casino (last in operation) to close; no legal casinos will remain |
By closing the final Stockholm venue, employing around 240 staff, the government also made clear: there will be no new licenses. Sweden will become the first EU country to eliminate all legal land-based casinos. The same bill expands the gambling authority’s power to oversee anti-money-laundering efforts, showing that this wasn’t just a shutdown – it was a systemic reset.
“Once Stockholm goes dark, that’s it.”— Industry analyst, commenting on Casino Cosmopol’s closure
Declining Fortunes in a Digital Age
Behind the government’s decision lies a blunt economic reality. Casino Cosmopol’s 2024 revenue plunged 65% to just SEK 165 million – a rounding error compared to Svenska Spel’s digital lottery arm, which pulled in over SEK 5.1 billion.
“The rise of online gambling in Sweden has turned more players away from land-based casinos.”— Ola Enquist, CEO, Casino Cosmopol
Online gambling, legalised for private operators in 2019, has fundamentally changed how Swedes play. Between smartphone accessibility, live-streamed games, and remote KYC checks, the frictionless digital experience has crushed the appeal of physical venues. COVID-19 only accelerated the exodus. Casinos became relics – analog distractions in an increasingly algorithmic entertainment economy.
“The stakes have shifted – from felt tables to firewalls, from bricks and mortar to code and compliance.”
Stakeholder Reactions and Implications
Svenska Spel didn’t resist the closure – they had already deemed the casino division unsustainable. What remains now is managing the fallout: job losses, the end of a cultural institution, and the risk of unregulated underground venues taking its place.
Players who valued the ambiance of real-world gambling will have no domestic options. Legal, licensed online play will remain robust – but whether that satisfies all demand is a different question. Critics warn that driving gambling exclusively online could backfire if regulation becomes too tight and players drift toward illegal or offshore platforms.
Gambling Policy Snapshot: Sweden vs. Nordic Neighbours
Country | Land-Based Casinos | Online Gambling | Monopoly Model | Regulatory Tech Integration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Sweden | ❌ Banned from Jan 2026 | ✅ Licensed market since 2019 | Partial (Svenska Spel) | 🔐 High (Spelpaus, AML data laws) |
Finland | ✅ State-run (Veikkaus) | ✅ Monopoly, shifting to licensing by 2026 | Yes, under transition | 🛠️ Medium |
Denmark | ✅ Licensed private casinos | ✅ Open, competitive market | No monopoly | 📈 High (site blocking, KYC) |
Norway | ❌ Not permitted | ✅ Strict state monopoly | Full monopoly (Norsk Tipping) | ⚙️ Medium–High |
This comparison underscores how Sweden is breaking ranks. Rather than modernize its casinos or allow private ones to operate under license, the country is exiting the space entirely – making it a global outlier in a region still exploring hybrid models.
Technology, Regulation, and the New Gambling Terrain
The Riksdag’s move is as much about control as it is about closure. Shutting physical casinos simplifies supervision. Authorities can now focus regulatory tech tools – Spelpaus, AML transaction monitoring, KYC platforms – entirely on digital infrastructure. This shift may improve oversight, but it also increases dependence on software and databases to catch abuses that once had human eyes on them.
Critics caution that the move could leave a void. If licensed operators online are squeezed by regulation, black-market platforms will gladly catch spillover traffic. The challenge for regulators will be ensuring the legal market remains attractive enough to keep players “channeled” – the core principle of Sweden’s gambling framework.
The Long Game
From a regulatory lens, this is a clean break. From a societal one, it’s more complicated. Sweden is betting that a digital-only gambling environment will be more sustainable, profitable, and manageable. It may succeed – or it may create new blind spots in enforcement.
But what’s certain is that Casino Cosmopol’s era is over. And with it, Sweden has folded more than just a business – it has reshuffled the entire way it approaches gambling in public life.
Let me know if you’d like this packaged as a publish-ready doc, or want visual layouts for the timeline or comparison table.
