Sweden’s online gambling licensees are warning that they could ‘leave’ the regulated market if the government continues to impose ever more restrictive limits on their operations.

On Thursday, the Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) industry association published an open letter to Social Security Minister Ardalan Shekarabi, warning that the government’s efforts to limit locally licensed online gambling sites’ offering was driving customers to internationally licensed alternatives. The letter further warned that “if players leave, the companies follow suit.”

The letter – which was signed by the CEOs of Betsson, Kindred Group, LeoVegas, NetEnt and William Hill – starts by noting that the whole purpose of liberalizing Sweden’s online gambling market was to ‘channel’ local gamblers to local sites so their activity could be monitored for signs of problem gambling (and earn the government a tidy pile of cash, but we digress).

The government initially claimed a 91% channeling rate – above the stated 90% target – shortly after the market’s launch but this slipped to 85-87% by autumn. A BOS-commissioned report released this week claimed that the current overall rate stands between 81% and 85%, with an online casino rate as low as 72%.