TRAV.se goes live in Swedish, targeting the large Swedish trotting horse racing market - one of the biggest sports in Sweden.
With its launch of TRAV.se, Multibrands Digital continues to deliver on its strategy to provide the best online portals in the field of iGaming in multiple geographical markets, providing the well informed and interested consumer with information, entertainment and exclusive offers - all in a unique and user-focused online environment.
Trotting (Swe: "trav") is a form of horse racing with immense popularity in Sweden, and as a professional sport dates back to over 100 years ago. It is one of the biggest sports in Sweden, boasting activity on more than 30 tracks all over the country, which together arrange more than 1000 races per year. The betting on this type of horse racing in Sweden has since 1974 been handled exclusively by the government controlled body ATG, a part of the Swedish national gambling monopoly. ATG has over the years grown into a behemoth of horse race betting, turning over almost EUR 2 Billion in 2016.
The Swedish gambling monopoly has since the early 2000s been challenged by foreign online gambling operators, many based in jurisdictions such as Malta and Gibraltar, within the fields of sportsbetting, poker and casino. Finding legal support on the basis of EU laws of free movement, these operators have year by year taken market share from the monopoly operators and attracted customers with better products, better offers and better customer support, than the government controlled alternatives.
Although not having garnered too great an interest from the foreign gambling operators in the early days of online gambling, trotting and horse race betting in Sweden has received increasing attention from those operators in more recent years, and many of them are now offering a wide array of betting options on Swedish horse races taking place all over the country. Such operators include Unibet (trav.se/spelbolag/2/unibet), RaceBets (trav.se/spelbolag/1/racebets) and Bet365 (trav.se/spelbolag/3/bet365).
Following EU pressure over the last 10 years, the Swedish gambling monopoly is set to be replaced by an open licensing system under a new regime, possibly as soon as 2019 - depending on political willingness to follow through on the current legislative proposals that were presented in March of 2017.
Whether or not new regulation will actually be in place by 2019, it is clear that horse race betting in Sweden is in for some serious changes and increased competition from foreign operators over the coming years. Thereby creating the need for consumer guidance and information when it comes to being as informed as you can be about every race, horse, track and betting offering from both Swedish and foreign operators. TRAV.se aims to become THE premier destination for Swedish horse race betting, offering consumers the tools and the in-depth information needed to ensure that they can enjoy their horse race betting in a fair, safe and secure environment.
See you at the races!