On June 27, 2025, several thousand Norwegians received a message: “You have won the Eurojackpot!” Some thought of a house, others of a vacation or paying off debts. A collective euphoria, born from a simple text message or notification. And yet, this dream collapsed the following Monday: everything was false.
How could such a situation have happened?
This was a technical error in the currency conversion system: the winning amounts, received in euros, were multiplied by 100 instead of divided by 100. A sum of €3.50 became NOK 350,000. In reality, the winnings were worth only a few hundred kroner.
As a result, approximately 47,000 people were falsely announced as winners. Of these, 30,000 received notifications with exorbitant amounts.
After the fall
The revelation of this blunder led to the immediate resignation of Norsk Tipping‘s CEO, Tonje Sagstuen, on June 30. Shortly after, the Norwegian gaming authority, Lotteritilsynet, confirmed that the company had violated the Gambling Act and launched a comprehensive review of the games (Eurojackpot, Lotto, Vikinglotto) from ticket purchase to winnings payout.
Vegar Strand, interim CEO, stated that the company was not surprised by this decision and had launched its own external investigations to restore confidence.
Accumulating Errors
This crisis is not an isolated case. In 2024, an error caused a player to pay out NOK 25 million via KongKasino, resulting in a fine of NOK 4.5 million.
In the spring of 2025, other incidents rocked the operator: a flaw prevented self-excluded players from blocking their accounts, and errors in special draws (Supertrekning and Eurojackpot Extra Draws) gave an unfair advantage to certain player cooperatives. The accumulation of these failures has prompted the authorities to consider enhanced controls: external validation of games before marketing, stricter monitoring.
Trust and Model Challenged
What is at stake today goes beyond the purely technical operation. Several voices in the sector believe that the state monopoly model is at its end.
Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm of the NBO (Norwegian Online Gaming Association) calls for strong consequences, arguing that simple fines are no longer sufficient when errors are repeated. He advocates a shift to a system of multiple licenses, with transparency obligations and independent oversight.
This case comes as Norway heads towards general elections in early September 2025: the debate on reforming the gaming market, which has been closed until now, has been rekindled.
What does the future hold for Eurojackpot and Norsk Tipping?
The conversion error is just one symptom of a structurally fragile system: lack of supranational supervision, lack of competition, a culture of self-control… This monopolistic model is now raising the siren song of the Scandinavian licensed model, where multiple operators, subject to strict rules, operate under surveillance.
The regulator has announced comprehensive reviews, linked to each stage of the games, and this case could well serve as a wake-up call for the entire sector, even within government bodies.