Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm, secretary general of the Norway Association for Online Gaming (NBO) trade body, has raised concerns over the response to recent failings at Norsk Tipping.
Stenstrøm has called for someone to be held accountable for recent errors at Norsk Tipping. He said despite pressure from opposition parties, the government has not given a “proper answer” concerning the monopoly operator.
Writing for regional Norwegian newspaper Østlendingen, Stenstrøm referenced several recent issues at the monopoly operator, particularly a lottery scandal discovered in June in which a major technical error resulted in around 30,000 Eurojackpot players receiving an SMS or push notification claiming they had won a prize, when they hadn’t.
Norsk Tipping CEO Tonje Sagstuen resigned shortly after the error was discovered and gambling regulator Lotteritilsynet ruled Norsk Tipping had broken the law. The regulator then placed Eurojackpot Norsk Tipping under review, specifically its Lotto, Eurojackpot and Vikinglotto games.
The monopoly operator has been responsible for two additional failings in recent months, including a NOK45 million ($4.4 million) fine for errors in Norsk Tipping’s “Eurojackpot extra draws” and the “Lotto super draws”. This gave players in cooperatives, gaming clubs and cooperative banks a greater chance of winning than they should have had.
Norsk Tipping’s additional failings
In March, a NOK 36 million fine was handed out after a bug was found to have prevented self-excluded players from blocking themselves out of their accounts. This followed a NOK4.5 million fine in 2024 after mistakenly paying a player NOK25 million in incorrect winnings.
“When neither the owner (Norway’s minister for culture), the chairperson, nor the CEO takes responsibility, the Gaming Authority must step in,” Stenstrøm insisted in the op-ed.
“The Gambling Act is clear: Norsk Tipping must operate responsibly and prevent harmful consequences. When legal breaches are repeated year after year, fines are no longer sufficient. The sanctions must be stronger.”
NBO plays down potential closure of Norsk Tipping
Stenstrøm acknowledged the strongest course of action that could affect Norsk Tipping would be for it to cease operations. But as it is the country’s monopoly operator, he accepted that the likelihood for this was “slim”.
However, Stenstrøm said Norsk Tipping should still face action and “rectify its wrongdoing”.
“The main issue is that Norsk Tipping has little to no incentive to improve,” he said. “They face almost no competition, the consequences for making mistakes are nearly non-existent and the owner, the ministry of culture and equality, has traditionally allowed Norsk Tipping to chart its own course and destination.
“This is a strong argument for regulating the Norwegian gaming market more responsibly. With a licensing model, one could set clear requirements for all operators, including Norsk Tipping, and ensure that serious errors actually lead to meaningful consequences.”
Could Norway’s Norsk Tipping monopoly come to an end following the general election?
Stenstrøm uses Norsk Tipping’s failures to once again urge the government to consider liberalising the online gambling market in Norway. The market is one of the only remaining monopolies in Europe.
But liberalisation could be on the horizon as Norway goes to the polls on 8 September and two of the main political parties are actively supporting opening up the market.
In June, during a conference hosted by NBO, Progress party MP Silje Hjemdal reiterated the party’s desire to end the country’s gambling monopoly. She said the party was looking to its Nordic neighbours for inspiration.
The Conservative party also called for the monopoly to be eliminated in its manifesto, which was launched in September last year.
Norway man faces jail over Lottstift Covid-19 support fraud
Elsewhere in Norway, the Oslo District Court has sentenced a man to more than one year in prison after finding him guilty of aggravated fraud over financial support from the Norway Lottery and Foundations Authority (Lottstift) during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The man, who has not been named, applied for approximately NOK1.3 million in support. This, he said, was for six events that had been cancelled as a result of pandemic measures.
However, his attempt was unsuccessful when Lottstift requested documents for each of the events. An investigation found that each of the events for which support had been applied for were fictitious. As such, Lottstift rejected the applications and reported the case to Økokrim Norway’s National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime.
Oslo District Court ruled on the case in July 2025, with details now being made public. The individual in question was also found guilty of gross social security fraud of approximately NOK500,000.
The man was sentenced to one year and two months in prison.
“The support schemes that were developed during the pandemic were important in a crisis situation, but they were also vulnerable to fraud and exploitation by criminals,” said Senior State Prosecutor at Økokrim, Petter Nordeng. “The convicted person submitted the applications to receive support that he was not entitled to.”
Trade body chief Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm has urged the Norway government to take action against Norsk Tipping over recent failures.