Can Swedish Licensed Gambling Survive Ongoing Restrictions?

Sweden was initially recognised as one of the world's leading licensed gambling markets. However, since the pandemic, the government has continued to apply undue pressure to operators and implemented restrictions that have negatively impacted players.

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 Svenska Spel Calls for Tighter Restrictions

In an article posted on Dagens Industri, Svenska Spel CEO Anna Johnson listed the top three (of their proposed eighteen) consumer protections for the Swedish market:

1. Young people need stronger protection. More minors and young adults are gambling on high-risk games like online casinos. Those under 25 should have stricter rules, such as lower limits, no direct marketing, and quicker access to support, as the brain isn’t fully developed until the age of 25.
2. Unlicensed gambling sites must be stopped. These operators ignore Swedish rules, harm consumers, and create unfair competition. Other countries effectively use DNS blocking, and Sweden should do the same. While Marcus Isgren’s proposed changes to tackle illegal gambling are welcome, more action is still needed.
3. Gambling should be risk-classified. Not all casino games are equally harmful; online casinos are far riskier than lotteries or sports betting. A risk-based system would allow stricter rules for high-risk gambling, such as tighter marketing and stronger care duties, creating a safer market for players.

While no one argues that youth and at-risk members of society need to be protected, and that working towards stronger protections against unlicensed online casinos makes sense, the push to classify some games as harmful will place more pressure on licensed casinos and could drive market channelisation down, not up.

 BOS Pushes Back on Proposed Restrictions

As Sweden’s online gambling trade body, BOS tends to offer a more level-headed approach to gambling regulations and player-facing interventions.

After reviewing the proposed consumer protections, Gustaf Hoffstedt, the BOS Secretary General, said:

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“If Svenska Spel’s proposal was to go through, even greater market shares await unlicensed and illegal online casinos. It is a natural consequence if the legal licensed gambling companies are prevented or prohibited from marketing themselves and their products.”

The country currently operates at a very strong market channelisation rate of 85% instead of the targeted 90%. Banning casino games, making them unsatisfactory to enjoy at a legal casino or reducing ad options for competitors runs the risk of pushing players to offshore casinos. This, in turn, harms market channelisation and can also elevate the chances of online gambling harms.

 Is Svenska Spel Trying to Claim Market Share?

There is also a very real concern that the proposed market limitations are self-serving, as Svenska Spel holds the local lottery monopoly and operates as a major casino provider.

Hoffstedt zeroed in on this point, saying:

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“Perhaps more should be demanded of the state-owned gaming company than to demand measures that commercially benefit its own operations and at the same time harm the goals of Sweden's gaming policy decided by the Riksdag, under the guise of consumer protection.”

By limiting the marketing efforts of its competitors, the local former state-owned casino operator does have an advantage over its international peers.

As this will likely coincide with an escalation of black market activity, in the end of the day, the entire licensed sector and the player base will be the losers if Svenska Spel succeeds.