Sweden folds its last hand as land-based casinos face the final curtain
Sweden has laid down its final card in the game of land-based casino gambling. On 2 April 2025, the Riksdag voted to shut down physical casinos for good, sealing the fate of Casino Cosmopol’s final site in Stockholm.
From 1 January 2026, Sweden will become the first EU country to eliminate state-run land-based casino gambling, drawing applause from some quarters and raised eyebrows from others. All this is happening just as Sweden’s gambling sector posted a 3 percent rise in 2024 turnover, totalling SEK 27.8 billion (€2.47 billion).
It’s part of a bigger clean-up: falling profits, shifting habits, and fears of dirty money. Still, while the government frames it as the end of an outdated chapter, those inside the industry aren’t quite so sure. Questions linger.
One by one, the lights went out
Once the jewel in Svenska Spel’s crown, Casino Cosmopol in Stockholm is now the last venue standing; with Sundsvall shuttered in 2020 and Gothenburg and Malmö gone by 2024, the final chapter is writing itself. By the time Stockholm became the last card on the table, the outcome was inevitable.
The Riksdag’s decision follows years of declining visitor numbers and revenue. In 2024, Casino Cosmopol brought in just SEK165 million (€14.69 million) — a 65 percent drop from the previous year. Meanwhile, Svenska Spel’s lottery division, Tur, raked in over SEK5.1 billion (€457.46 million). Even Svenska Spel backed the shutdown.
“We share the government’s assessment and have been prepared for the Riksdag’s decision,” said Ola Enquist, CEO of Casino Cosmopol, the land-based division of state-owned Svenska Spel. “Nevertheless, it is, of course, emotionally tough because it means that an era will end when the casino in Stockholm eventually closes.“
Kungsgatan 65 will keep its doors open a little longer, but the writing is on the wall. Almost 240 jobs hang in the balance, union discussions are already underway, and the property is being lined up for sale.
A policy of closure and exclusion
There’s no doubt where the government stands. In its eyes, casino gambling isn’t something the state should run anymore. Minister for Financial Markets Niklas Wykman wrote last year, “State companies should not operate casinos.”
The amendment doesn’t just end the state’s role; it shuts the door entirely. No new licences. No private operators. Once Stockholm goes dark, that’s it. Sweden will have no legal land-based casino left standing.
This is where consensus breaks down. The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) welcomed the state’s exit from casino operations but heavily criticised the ban on private alternatives.
“Land-based casinos play a very small role in terms of turnover, but they still have a function in the overall ecosystem,” said Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General of BOS. “They fulfil a function for Sweden as a tourist country and to deter illegal gambling clubs.”
BOS argues that a truly liberal gambling policy should open the market, not ban it entirely. The association also reminded the government of its unfulfilled promise to divest Svenska Spel Sport & Casino, the state’s online casino arm, which continues to operate despite the ideological push to exit state-run gambling. To BOS, shutting the doors on Casino Cosmopol while keeping a profitable online casino under state control sends mixed messages, a case of ideological convenience rather than consistency. The government, it says, has missed the chance to offer properly regulated, privately operated casinos that could have served players, created jobs, and maintained oversight.
Industry voices and legal fallout
Karl-Oskar Hokkanen, Associate at Nordic Gambling, told SiGMA News the closure marks a structural shift rather than a collapse.
“This reflects a structural shift in player behaviour from physical venues to digital platforms, a trend accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic,“ he told SiGMA. “It does not necessarily reflect a declining interest in gambling — only a change in format.“
But he, too, sounded a note of caution. New regulations such as a proposed credit card ban and stricter guidelines for online play could damage channelisation, already well below the government’s 90 percent target. Experts estimate that less than half of Swedish online casino players remain within the licensed market. That figure is troubling for those hoping to keep gambling activity safe and regulated.
“With physical casinos out of the picture, the fight for gambling revenue will now rest entirely between the online licensed market and the black market,” Hokkanen said.
Not everything’s going. Land-based gambling isn’t vanishing completely — token-operated machines in restaurants and some in-venue games will still be allowed.
Scandinavia diverges
Sweden’s approach is starting to look like the outlier. Over in Norway, the regulator has been tightening the screws, recently blocking 57 illegal gambling sites.
In Denmark, courts ordered the closure of 49 unlicensed sites in 2023 alone. Both countries have focused on clamping down on the illegal market without dismantling physical gambling outright.
Finland, on the other hand, is heading down a very different path. In March 2025, the government proposed plans to break up Veikkaus’s monopoly and open the door to a new licensing system. Finland’s licensing system is set to begin in 2026, though the complete rollout might stretch into 2027. Lawmakers appear to favour a steady transition over sudden change. From 2026, private operators can enter Finland’s regulated online market, while Veikkaus retains control of land-based venues.
Sweden, by contrast, has chosen to exit the land-based market entirely — not just as an operator, but as a regulator too. For some, Sweden’s move is a moral and ideological correction. For others, it is a heavy-handed retreat. There is no roadmap yet for how high-value poker tournaments or legitimate private venues could operate in the future. The tourism draw is gone. So, too, is the visible deterrent to underground clubs.
The casino floor is closing. But the game is far from over. The stakes have shifted — from felt tables to firewalls, from bricks and mortar to code and compliance.
Whether this bold move results in a safer, cleaner gambling environment or a messier underground one remains to be seen.
Now, the industry waits to see what’s in the deck.
