False expectations raised
Norway’s gambling regulator has warned state lottery gambling operator Norsk Tipping that it faces a hefty fine over its math error that led thousands of players to believe they’d become millionaires.
unusually high sums of money
Earlier this week, the Norwegian Lottery and Foundation Authority (Lottstift) announced a fine of up to NOK10m ($1m) for Norsk Tipping for wrongly informing thousands they had won unusually high sums of money following a Eurojackpot draw.
Norway’s gambling authority said Norsk Tipping will have up to three weeks to respond and prepare any case it might have to reduce the financial penalty.
According to Lottstift, the $1m fine represents 0.1% of the state lottery’s turnover, which was approximately NOK10.2bn ($985m) in 2024.
Responding to the fine notice, Norsk Tipping’s Acting CEO Vegar Strand apologized for the lottery’s failure and said it was taking the violation “very seriously.” According to reports, the interim chief executive stated Norsk Tipping has taken extensive measures “to strengthen routines, monitoring and processes across the company.”
Multiplied instead of divided
Vegar has replaced Tonje Sagstuen, who resigned in June after taking responsibility for the lottery mistake.
The major error that led Sagstuen to quit claiming it was her “responsibility to handle the mistakes” was in the formula used when converting Euros to Norwegian kroner for the Eurojackpot draw in June.
After the Eurojackpot draw on June 27, Norsk Tipping notified around 47,000 people they had won huge sums. The reason for the oversized booty was, instead of converting the Euros sent from Germany into kroner by dividing by 100, Norsk Tipping multiplied the figure by 100.
One woman thought she’d won 1.9m kroner ($188,186). A couple believed they’d won 1.2m kroner ($118,841) during a home makeover, while others reportedly were looking at booking vacations and buying cars before the lottery confessed its mistake.
Parting rebuke
Along with the fine, Norway’s gambling regulator castigated Norsk Tipping for the Eurojackpot fiasco calling it “a serious breach of trust” and that entrants should be able to trust the state lottery.
Lottstift Director Atle Hamar said the disappointment of players who believed they’d won a big prize must have been “brutal.”
“It is reprehensible that the error was not discovered in connection with either testing or controls, but only after the message about the incorrect prize amount had been sent to the players,” the Lottstift head admonished in a news release.
Besides the financial hit that Norsk Tipping said will force it to reduce its charity contributions, Lottstift will closely monitor the state lottery’s Lotto, Vikinglotto, and Eurojackpot games as part of an ongoing review.
