BOS Presents Report on Channelisation on the Swedish Gambling Market

Swedish online gambling trade association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) has presented a report on channelisation on the Swedish gambling market. The study was commissioned by BOS and conducted by the Copenhagen Economics consultancy.

The report shows a general declining development on the competitive side of the gambling market (81–85 % channelisation). It also reports very low channelisation numbers for the gambling verticals sports betting (80–85 %) and online casino (72–78 %).

The Governmental channelisation goal for a sustainable gambling regulation is 90 %. This is the first report which shows channelisation for individual gambling verticals, like sports betting and online casino, in the Swedish market.

“There is no doubt that the licensing system is under heavy pressure when it comes to the gambling verticals sports betting and online casino. It is irresponsible to even consider further restrictions towards the locally licensed operators in those verticals, since we know that such restrictions push the punters away from the licensed market to the unregulated illegal market with its non-existent customer protection,” Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary-general of BOS, said.

“The future for the Swedish licensing system is now determined by the authorities and the Government’s ability to abstain from further restrictions towards locally licensed operators,” Gustaf Hoffstedt added.

“First of all, Minister Ardalan Shekarabi must withdraw his proposed additional restrictions from last week towards licensed operators. Secondly the Gambling Market Inquiry headed by Anna-Lena Sörenson must abstain any suggestions on additional prohibitions regarding marketing for licensed operators. And thirdly the Swedish Gambling Authority must withdraw its suggested additional restrictions for sports betting towards licensed operators, like prohibitions on betting on friendly matches and lower divisions in football,” Gustaf Hoffstedt added.