Sweden Upholds SEK 44 Million in Fines Against bet365 Parent Hillside

Sweden.- 21 October 2026 | www.zonadeazar.com The Swedish Administrative Court of Appeal has rejected appeals filed by Hillside Group, the parent company of bet365, upholding financial penalties totalling SEK 44 million (approximately US$4.4 million).

The ruling concerns its subsidiaries Hillside (Gaming) ENC and Hillside (Sports) ENC, which were found to have breached player protection obligations and mandatory deposit limit regulations.

The violations occurred between 2019 and 2022, when authorities identified shortcomings in the companies’ responses to potentially harmful gambling behaviour.

Financial Penalties and Warnings Upheld

The court supported the findings of Sweden’s gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, concluding that the sanctions were proportionate to the seriousness of the breaches.

The confirmed penalties include:

• Hillside (Gaming): SEK 4 million, approximately US$401,000.
• Hillside (Sports): SEK 40 million, approximately US$4.01 million.
• Formal warnings: both companies received additional regulatory sanctions.

The original penalty against the sports betting subsidiary had been set at SEK 65 million, before being reduced during judicial proceedings.

Player Protection Failures

Spelinspektionen’s investigation identified delayed responses to customers displaying signs of potentially harmful gambling.

The regulator initially examined the 10 players with the highest losses between 17 October and 17 December 2021, reviewing five of those cases in greater detail.

According to the court’s findings, Hillside relied heavily on automated communications, including emails, pop-ups and spending reminders.

However, these measures were not supported by sufficiently prompt manual interventions.

In certain cases, stronger restrictions were not introduced until almost a month after warning signs had emerged.

The Problem with Unlimited Deposits

Another central issue was the availability of a “no limit” deposit option.

This feature remained available between 1 January 2019 and 18 April 2022.

Swedish legislation requires players to actively establish maximum daily, weekly and monthly deposit limits.

Although Hillside argued that a technical ceiling of SEK 500 million existed, the courts found that it had neither been communicated to customers nor enforced as an effective restriction.

Consequently, the feature was considered incompatible with the country’s gambling regulations.

Hillside’s Defence and Regulatory Impact

Hillside maintained that its early risk detection system was generally effective and challenged the limited number of customer accounts examined by the regulator.

The company also argued that regulatory guidance lacked sufficient precision regarding the timing of interventions.

However, the court rejected these arguments and upheld the findings of non-compliance.

The decision reinforces Spelinspektionen’s position regarding operators’ responsibilities to prevent gambling-related harm.

For the wider iGaming industry, the ruling highlights that automated warnings cannot replace effective player protection measures and that mandatory deposit limits must be clearly implemented and enforced.

Editó: @fonta