Swedish regulator Spelinspektionen survey highlights difficult in distinguishing licensed gambling offerings
The survey found that almost three-quarters of Swedish gamblers couldn’t distinguish between licensed and unlicensed products.
Sweden.- A survey commissioned by the Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has raised concerns about gamblers’ ability to identify regulated gambling products. Carried out by Enkätfabriken in November, the poll found that 72 per cent of gamblers were unable to distinguish between licensed and unlicensed products in the market.
Only 42 per cent of respondents said they believed that a local licence was an important factor to consider when choosing a gambling operator, but this was up from 28 per cent in the previous year’s edition of the survey. That said, the rate was 27 per cent this time when it comes to players aged 18 and 19, rising to a high of 52 per cent for those aged 65 or older.
As for the benefits of playing with licensed operators, 47 per cent agreed or were uncertain as to whether there was an advantage in gambling with licensed operator, but only 6 per cent had firmly decided that there was no advantage. A fear of non-payment, insecure data policies and increased risks of gambling problems were cited as the main reasons to avoid unlicensed sites, but, 8 per cent of participants said they had gambled on such sites to avoid taxes on winnings.
The survey covered 1,644 respondents, including 1,164 who had gambled in the past 12 months. The male to female balance was 53 per cent vs 47 per cent.
Among those who gambled, 3 per cent did so daily, 33 per cent weekly and 28 per cent monthly. Based on responses, online gambling at home represented 91 per cent of gambling, up from 85 per cent in the year prior. Only 18 per cent took part in retail gambling and 2 per cent visited land-based casinos (only one remains, and Svenska Spel will close the last Casino Cosmopol venue at the end of this year).
Lottery participation reached 84 per cent, a rise of 10 points, and sports betting increased from 15 to 19 per cent, with football and ice hockey still the most popular sports.
Some 34 per cent of respondents were unaware of the self-exclusion platform Spelpaus.se, and only 6 per cent had used it. The majority of gamblers (69 per cent) gave entertainment as their main motivation, followed by playing to win significant amounts (40 per cent, up from 30 per cent). Gambling for social reasons was only a factor among over 65s and even then represented only 4 per cent.
First quarter results in Swedish gaming
This week, the two major state-linked gambling operators Svenska Spel and ATG both reported downturns in their financial results for the first quarter.
The horseracing betting operator AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) reported that net gaming revenue across horse racing, sports betting and online casino operations in Sweden and Denmark totalled SEK 1.2bn (€109.9m), a drop of 8 per cent year-on-year. Its core horseracing segment saw revenue fall by 10 per cent.
There was a slight increase in customers across all sectors, reaching 1.4 million, but customers wagered less per week. Casino revenue was down by 13 per cent, while sports betting revenue rose by 14 per cent.
State-controlled Svenska Spel reported a 4 per cent drop in net gaming revenue to SEK 1.88bn (€171.7m) amid the closure of two out of its three Casino Cosmopol land-based casinos in February of last year. Lottery revenue fell by 1 per cent year-on-year to SEK 1.2m while sports betting and casino revenue were up slightly at SEK 551m.
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