2 bet365 Companies Lose Appeals Against SEK44M in Swedish Fines

The cases concern Hillside (Sports) ENC and Hillside (Gaming) ENC, which offered gambling through bet365.com under separate betting and commercial online gaming licences. The Swedish gambling regulator said both companies had committed serious breaches of player protection and deposit-limit rules.

SEK79M in Original Fines Reduced to SEK44M

The regulator first sanctioned the two companies in April 2023. Both appealed, and in June 2024, the Administrative Court in Linköping reduced their penalties:

• Hillside (Sports) ENC – from SEK65 million to SEK40 million;
• Hillside (Gaming) ENC – from SEK14 million to SEK4 million.

The combined reduction was SEK35 million, or 44.3% of the original SEK79 million. The sports business accounted for SEK25 million of that cut. The warnings remained in place.

The companies appealed again, seeking to overturn the findings or obtain further reductions. The October 2026 judgments leave the 2024 amounts unchanged.

Deposit Limits and Player Protection Failures

The investigation covered two problems. Customers could select a "no limit" option instead of entering daily, weekly and monthly maximum deposits. This remained possible from January 2019 until April 2022, although Swedish rules required players to set upper limits for all three periods.

The other issue was how Hillside handled customers showing signs of excessive gambling. In the sports betting judgment, the company disputed the findings based on five reviewed customers. It said all five had been contacted, three were later blocked by the operator and one had self-excluded.

The gaming judgment also covered five customers. Hillside argued that such a small sample could not establish a breach of its duty of care.

Both companies had changed their responsible gambling procedures during the investigation.

Court Upholds Warnings and Reduced Fines

The appeals court found that Hillside had waited too long before taking stronger action in some cases. Customers continued gambling after signs of excessive play had been identified. Initial contact was not always followed by further restrictions or reviews.

The judges also upheld the findings on deposit limits. That breach had lasted more than three years. The procedural changes made by Hillside did not lead to the warnings being removed or the penalties being reduced further.

The decisions have significant implications for licensed operators in Sweden. Contacting a player is one step, but the timing of subsequent action also matters. The lower court reduced the penalties in 2024, but the appeals court left the findings of serious regulatory breaches intact.