SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
BOS, the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling, has urged the government to withdraw its suggested measures to tighten regulations on the online casino industry.
BOS pointed out that initial concerns relating to an increase in online casino during the lockdown had not occurred, and that the imposition of new measures would have a further negative impact on chanellisation.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, BOS Secretary General, stated: “The motive for the Ministry of Finance to implement the suggested measures has been an alleged increase of online casinos due to covid-19. That has proven to be inaccurate.
“We therefore suggest that the Government withdraw these suggestions, also bearing in mind that they would have a negative impact on channelization.”
In a statement, BOS emphasised that the country’s Ministry of Finance had been unable to provide substantial evidence that online casino activity had increased during the global pandemic.
The response pointed out that the gambling vertical which had undergone the greatest change was the volume of those betting on sports, with levels having decreased substantially due to the cancellation of live events.
Making a number of suggestions to the Ministry of Finance, BOS recommended that there should be monthly reports on the development of gambling verticals and channelisation rates for each gambling vertical.
The statement added: “Without facts, the Government are in the risk of making decisions that have no connection to reality, decisions that might cause irreversible damage to the Swedish gambling regulation.
“Decisions without facts based on the reality that causes harm to the gambling regulation is exactly what will happen is the government makes decisions in accordance with the revised proposal of the memorandum.
“We can see that so far there have been no increase in online casino activity and that the proposed measures will have a negative impact on an already alarmingly low channelization rate for this gambling vertical.”
