How liberal will the Swedish gambling market really be?

Since the plans for liberalization and licensing were announced, casino marketing has become a huge public issue in Sweden. That’s not surprising. In a country that has sought to police public morality so tightly, for so long, some pushback is to be expected.

In February 2019, the government made a strong statement, warning operators against adopting “aggressive” marketing strategies to capture market share in the fledgling market.

Concerns have regularly been raised in the Swedish media regarding safeguards for problem gamblers and younger people, as well as the general promotion of casinos as legitimate businesses. It’s a cultural challenge for the companies as well as Swedish society, so which way will the market go?

Casino marketing: what does the law say?

What we know right now is that the regulations introduced in late 2018 to put online gambling on a firmer footing say relatively little about marketing methods.

Instead, they focus on taxation, age limits, and the licensing process. The focus is more on creating “safe spaces” for gambling, rather than telling operators how to promote their businesses.

So, there will be quite tight limitations on the welcome bonuses available from licensed operators (Spelinspektionen.se – last update 2019-01-31), as well as the types of bonuses and deals available to regular customers. The idea is that casinos elsewhere have sometimes taken these promotions too far, giving players an unrealistic sense of potential winnings, while exploiting vulnerable people.

But this leaves out a large chunk of online casino marketing, as well as member benefits like sports tickets. So while bonuses are going to be restricted, expect to see plenty of creative promotional ideas emerging to compensate.

What about advertising? Has Sweden got the balance right?

Most importantly, the new regulations are a bit unclear about the role of advertising. And with bonuses taking a back seat, this could mean that casino operators will leverage ads in greater occurrence instead.

This could lead to an epidemic of glitzy, visually seductive ads, targeting the impulses of potential customers. But things could be more laid back as well.

Remember, the Swedish casino regulations stipulate harsh fines for breaching license guidelines, sometimes reaching as much as 10% of a company’s turnover. That’s pretty uncommon elsewhere in the gambling world, and we can’t be sure how it will affect the way casinos operate.

So the future is unclear. Sweden could head towards a zero advertising model (similar to Italy), or relax its attitude towards marketing (as with the UK). But the smart money is on a slow liberalization of the way casinos are promoted.

Sweden is lukewarm about gambling, but the direction of travel is clear: It’s a market Stockholm wants to encourage, and advertising is a key part of the picture.

Licensed online casino operators in Sweden

2 months have passed since the re-regulation of the market and so far, 69 companies have been granted a Swedish casino license. It’s a mix of old companies such as Betsson and Unibet and new sites, such as the Swedish casino Dreamz, that was granted a license at the end of 2018.

When speaking to the people at Dreamz.com regarding this huge change on the Swedish market they saw it as s positive development for both the casino industry in general and for Swedes and Sweden as a country.

Many of us at Dreamz have been in the casino business for over 10 years, and we believe this is what industry needs. Serious and legitimate companies will benefit alongside Sweden as a country, while operators that cannot deliver what is required to uphold the license requirement will disappear from the market. For one thing, responsible gambling is an issue that some companies need to make a better effort in, and as from 1 January 2019, this is a topic that will be of the highest priority and under the supervision of the Swedish gambling Authority, which is great for all parties.