Why Svenska Spel Will Relaunch Proxy Play Despite Sweden’s 33% Gambling Increase

Despite the recent concerns of over the reported 33% increase in gambling in Sweden, state-owned Svenska Spel has announced that it will be reintroducing its currently defunct Proxy Play service.

What is Proxy Play?

As the convention suggests it is the ability to nominate another person to place bets or purchase lottery tickets on your behalf.

Carolina Swaffer, Head of Retail and Customer Service at Svenska Spel, said:

“It is for people such as the elderly who cannot get to play directly through an agent. We removed this ability some years ago and received many letters expressing sadness that it was no longer available. But with gaming terminals now offering far more secure verification of ID, we can reintroduce it,”

This is of particular interest in the present circumstances where many elderly residents find themselves confined to their home for health reasons. This will allow them to still enjoy their favourite games.

 What About The Increased Gambling Volumes?

In a recent article Svenska Spel analyst, Martin Johansson, noted that while there have been reports pointing out an increase of 33% in Swedish gambling they have been quoted out of context.

The survey was based on data provided by 17 small, online-only, gambling venues out of Sweden’s 100 regulated casinos, and even then it only showed an increased interest in online gambling channels, not in money spent.

Kajsa Nylander, sustainability manager at Svenska Spel supported this in a blog post stating:

“We see a marginally increased interest in the forms of poker, Bingo and Casino. But even though the games are attracting new players, we do not currently see a higher average consumption of these games. Average spending per customer for Poker, Bingo and Casino is at the same levels as before"

This clarification of the numbers by Svenska Spel has been welcome news as it is what is needed to stop the government banning all legal casinos and opening up the market to annexation by less scrupulous operators out for short term gains.