Norway's Norsk Tipping Receives Massive Fine, Faces Investigation
Norsk Tipping, Norway's state-owned gaming provider, has been handed a fine of NOK46 million (€3.9 million) after regulators uncovered a long-running error in its Eurojackpot system. In addition to the fine, an extensive investigation into the company's operations has been proposed.
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:The Norwegian Lottery and Foundations Authority confirmed that a technical bug allowed players participating through groups, cooperatives, or gambling clubs to have a higher chance of winning in Eurojackpot extra draws and Lotto super draws compared to individuals playing alone. The issue dates back to 2015 and remained unnoticed until within the past year, putting solo participants at a systematic disadvantage for nearly a decade.
Related: Norway Regulator Fines Norsk Tipping for Gambling Rule BreachThe penalty follows through on enforcement action first announced in April and adds to the growing list of compliance problems faced by Norsk Tipping. The company has struggled with several major errors in the past year, prompting regulatory scrutiny and leadership changes. Earlier in 2024, Chief Executive Officer Tonje Sagstuen resigned following a separate scandal, highlighting the mounting pressure on the operator to restore trust among both regulators and players.
Regulator director Atle Hamar stressed in an announcement about the enforcement action that players must be able to rely on Norsk Tipping's products being fair and safe. He characterized the situation as especially serious because the problem went undetected for many years, suggesting that the company's threshold for investigating potential errors was too high.
With the dominant market position that Norsk Tipping holds, he argued that such flaws should have been discovered and corrected much earlier. Hamar also criticized the operator for demonstrating carelessness and inadequate oversight of its games.
Details released by the regulator show that Norsk Tipping first became aware of possible irregularities in the Eurojackpot draw in November 2024 but chose not to conduct a deeper investigation at that stage. A follow-up tip received on January 24, 2025, was also not acted upon immediately, with the company continuing to run two more draws before eventually uncovering the fault.
The operator also had indications that the Lotto super draw may have been compromised, but delayed its response for several weeks before taking corrective action.
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Extent of Damage Unknown
Eurojackpot and Lotto are among the most popular lottery products in Norway, with around 1.5 million people participating in Eurojackpot and nearly 2 million in Lotto during 2024. Combined, 108 extra and super draws are carried out each year. The extent of the error raises questions about how many results may have been impacted and the scale of the disadvantage faced by individual players during this period.
This latest sanction represents the third major fine against Norsk Tipping in less than a year. The company previously paid a NOK2.5 million fine after an error in the KongKasino game resulted in a player being wrongly awarded NOK25 million.
Another incident led to a NOK36 million penalty when users were unable to activate self-exclusion tools. Additional problems have included players mistakenly receiving notifications that they had won significant jackpots, a fault in the Easter Lotto super draw, and the loss of hundreds of tip-offs over a 14-month period due to another systems error.
Regulators now intend to launch an in-depth investigation into Norsk Tipping's lottery operations. Hamar said that the level of control exercised by the company over its games is inadequate and that repeated issues have only come to light after major consequences had already unfolded.
He announced that stricter supervision will be carried out over the operator's largest lottery games, including Lotto, Eurojackpot, and Vikinglotto, to ensure integrity and prevent similar failures in the future.
With Finland set to end its monopoly model in 2027, Norway will become the last Nordic country operating under a monopoly system. Recent missteps by Norsk Tipping have fueled debate among political figures over whether the current system adequately protects players or whether a competitive licensing model might achieve safer outcomes.
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