The board of AB Svenska Spel made the decision to close on Thursday.

Casino Cosmopol in Sundsvall was inaugurated in the summer of 2001 with pomp and circumstance as Sweden's first international casino. After that, casinos were opened in Malmö, Gothenburg and Stockholm.

The casino has struggled with profitability for several years. The customer base has long been declining, and the business has also been negatively affected by the strong development of online gaming in recent years.

Downward spiral

In combination with the stricter marketing rules, Casino Cosmopol has had a downward spiral which, despite various investments and initiatives, has not been able to be broken. The corona pandemic became a decisive factor behind the decommissioning decision.

Already in March, a notice of redundancies was issued, which is now coming into force. This means that 68 employees will lose their jobs.

"Not defensible"

- It is a sad message to have to give to our talented employees. But we must adapt to prevailing market conditions. With a constantly declining customer base, the casino in Sundsvall is no longer profitable and then it is unfortunately not commercially defensible to continue to run the business, says Patrik Hofbauer, President and CEO of Svenska Spel.

The three other casinos in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö are not affected.