BOS: Swedish Gambling Association against excessive regulation

The Swedish gaming association BOS has been critical of the extension of the tightened gaming regulations due to the health crisis. In the opinion of the renowned association, it is urgently necessary to withdraw the tightening in order not to endanger the channeling of the regulated market.

Will temporary tightening become permanent?

For Gustaf Hoffstedt, General Secretary of the BOS gaming association, the announced extension of the tightened gaming regulation is a major nuisance. It was originally announced that the rules would only be tightened temporarily in order to ensure better player protection at the height of the crisis. But now not only the BOS fears that the stricter rules could apply permanently. Two limits are particularly controversial: a deposit limit of 5,000 SEK per week and a bonus limit of 500 SEK. According to many experts, these two limits exclude the financially strong part of the gambling fans in Sweden from the regular market. The so-called high rollers now only have two options: waiver or play in an online casino without a license. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to imagine that giving up isn't the first option for many high rollers. There is an interesting detail that shows this effect also on the legalized market in Sweden: horse racing is excluded from the new limits and since the new restrictions came into force, horse racing has been booming in Sweden. The victims of the current special regulation are the online casinos and online bookmakers with a Swedish license.

The gaming association BOS points out that even before the introduction of the stricter regulation, around 25 percent of Swedish gaming fans were active online outside the regulated gaming market. Current figures are not yet available, but it can be assumed that the proportion of players who use online casinos without a license has not fallen. This is a fatal development because channeling the gaming market is an important regulatory goal. What does channeling mean? A regulated gaming market only works, especially with regard to player protection, if a large part of the actually existing market is covered. When there are many providers outside of the regulated gambling market, the channeling is not working well. That is the case in Sweden at the moment. However, politicians like to note that sales in the regulated online casinos and regulated online bookmakers have gone down. The fact that this is not a positive effect, which also contradicts what was originally the reason for the current restrictions, is hardly discussed, at least officially.



However, critical voices are growing among the gambling associations and also with the Swedish gambling authority. The Swedish gaming regulation, which was only introduced in 2019, could fail in the medium term if the regulation is not adapted to reality. The fact that this is not a positive effect, which also contradicts what was originally the reason for the current restrictions, is hardly discussed, at least officially. However, critical voices are growing among the gambling associations and also with the Swedish gambling authority. The Swedish gaming regulation, which was only introduced in 2019, could fail in the medium term if the regulation is not adapted to reality. The fact that this is not a positive effect, which also contradicts what was originally the reason for the current restrictions, is hardly discussed, at least officially. However, critical voices are growing among the gambling associations and also with the Swedish gambling authority. The Swedish gaming regulation, which was only introduced in 2019, could fail in the medium term if the regulation is not adapted to reality.

willian:

Has the Swedish government exploited the crisis?It is not a new realization that it is very easy to make new regulations, but very difficult to get rid of old regulations. As a result, the gambling associations in Sweden are probably not entirely unjustified in their concerns that the current tightening of regulations could become permanent. That would be fatal for the entire gambling regulation. This year, for example, William hill had to recorded significant losses in Sweden, also because the attractiveness of the regulated online casinos has been impaired by the new regulations.

In principle, that would not be a problem, especially if the goal is to shrink the gaming market. But at the moment there is another effect: there are many indications that the Swedish gaming market is growing, albeit outside of regulation. Last but not least, this also means that tax revenues from the gambling sector are going down. If the online casinos and online bookmakers earn less money, the normal Swedish citizens also benefit less from taxes. The whole situation is currently unsatisfactory for the Swedish gambling fans and the gambling providers.

Basically there are only two options: Either the regulation has to be relaxed so that the providers with licenses become more attractive again. Or the Swedish government has to take massive action against providers who do not have a Swedish license and still accept Swedish customers. However, if you look at the past decade in the European gambling market, it is hard to believe that Sweden could be able to fight the black market effectively. The entire European gaming market grew rapidly precisely because there were only a few licenses and gaming authorities for a long time. The EU licenses played an important role in this. Meanwhile there are many countries, besides Sweden among others also Germany, who prefer a national gambling regulation for the online area. In principle, that's perfectly fine, but the gaming regulation must be designed in such a way that, in the end, player protection is improved in reality and not just on paper. It is therefore important that a strong gambling association like the BOS defends itself against problematic attempts at regulation.v