The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) has laid out its response to Svenska Spel’s recently proposed changes to the Swedish gambling market.
Svenska Spel’s CEO, Anna Johnson, argued in the company’s proposal that the country’s regulated market is underperforming, adding that the share of legally licensed gambling has failed to reach the government’s target of 90% since the 2019 re-regulation of the Gambling Act.
Because Sweden hasn’t hit its targets, the state-owned operator is calling for stronger government intervention, including a system to classify gambling products by risk level.
In its response to the calls, BOS suggests that “one in four gambling krona” is currently being spent on offshore and unlicensed sites.
Under the proposal, regulated higher-risk games, primarily online casino products, would face stricter restrictions, including limitations on marketing.
BOS Secretary General Gustaf Hoffstedt asserted in the response: “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 proposal that Svenska Spel dresses up in the name of consumer protection would therefore, on the contrary, harm consumer protection, as we know that a transition from licensed to unlicensed gambling entails an increased risk of problem gambling.”
Svenska Spel’s rationale centres on protecting consumers and curbing unlicensed gambling, which remains a persistent issue in Sweden’s market.
However, BOS has challenged this stance, warning that the measures would have the opposite effect.
It emphasised that online casinos in Sweden are already subject to some of Europe’s toughest restrictions, a reality that has driven many Swedish players toward unlicensed offshore platforms.
Over-regulation not the answer
The association argued that additional rules would exacerbate the problem rather than alleviate it, further undermining the attractiveness of the licensed sector.
BOS, which has said it would support efforts to criminalise illegal gambling, drew comparisons with Denmark, where regulated gambling has achieved over 90% channelisation without excessive restrictions.
The Danish model, BOS noted, shows that sustainable regulation depends on consumer appeal rather than punitive enforcement.
The group cautioned against policies such as DNS blocking and payment bans, calling them ineffective deterrents that fail to change consumer behaviour.
It also argued that Svenska Spel’s proposals are not purely about consumer protection.
BOS pointed out that the operator uniquely straddles both monopoly and competitive segments of Sweden’s gambling landscape, benefitting when restrictions tighten on private-sector competitors.
It suggested that these proposals could inadvertently serve to relegate private operators while strengthening Svenska Spel’s monopoly position in the lottery and land-based sectors.
The association characterised Sweden’s situation as a regulatory conundrum, where excessive caution risks eroding the very consumer safeguards it aims to uphold.
It cited the Netherlands as a cautionary example, where overly rigid policies have reportedly driven more than half of gambling activity underground.
BOS stressed that protecting consumers requires balance. It also means ensuring strong safeguards without rendering licensed options so unattractive that players migrate to unregulated sites.
It added: “Proposing changes that worsen rather than improve the situation does not help to strengthen consumer protection, especially if it only benefits the actor who makes the proposals.”
