Swedish Appeal Court Upholds SEK44 Million in bet365 Penalties

Sweden’s Administrative Court of Appeal has upheld combined penalties of SEK44 million, reported as approximately $4.4 million, against two companies operating under the bet365 brand.

Hillside (Sports) ENC faces a SEK40 million penalty, while Hillside (Gaming) ENC must pay SEK4 million. Both companies also received formal warnings over serious breaches of duty-of-care requirements and deposit-limit rules.

Spelinspektionen announced the appeal outcome on October 14, 2026. The court dismissed both companies’ appeals, agreeing that the warnings and financial penalties were proportionate to the violations. 

“No Limit” Option Failed Deposit Requirements

The underlying investigation found that customers could select a “no limit” option when setting deposit limits between January 1, 2019, and April 19, 2022.

Although the system had a technical ceiling of SEK500 million, the regulator found that this did not satisfy the requirement for customers to choose specific upper deposit limits for daily, weekly and monthly periods.

In its response to the investigation, Hillside Sports disputed the regulator’s interpretation and said it had acted on its understanding of guidance received before entering the market. The company nevertheless changed its system on April 19, 2022, requiring customers to select fixed deposit limits for all three periods. 

Penalties Were Reduced During Earlier Appeals

The October judgments concern an enforcement case dating back to April 2023, rather than newly imposed regulatory penalties.

Spelinspektionen originally set the sanctions at SEK65 million for Hillside Sports and SEK14 million for Hillside Gaming. On June 13, 2024, the Administrative Court reduced those amounts to SEK40 million and SEK4 million respectively.

The regulator’s case records link the reassessment to a Supreme Administrative Court precedent concerning how sanction fees should be calculated. Spelinspektionen had itself supported reductions, although the Administrative Court ultimately set lower amounts than the regulator proposed.

The Administrative Court of Appeal upheld those reduced penalties in judgments dated October 8, 2026.

Player Protection Changes Formed Part of Response

Hillside Sports also described changes to its player protection procedures during the original investigation. These included closer scrutiny of customers losing more than SEK10,000 in a month, particularly where monitoring identified additional signs of risky behaviour.

Its revised approach included lower thresholds for enhanced checks on young customers and people returning after self-exclusion.

The sanctions remained warnings and financial penalties, allowing the businesses to retain their licences.