Gambling RET: Svenska Spel receives record number of proposals

The state-controlled gambling operator’s research council will donate over €500,000 to fund seven research projects.

Sweden.- Svenska Spel’s independent research council says it has received a record number of applications for funding for gambling harm prevention research projects. The body, which is funded by the state-controlled gambling operator, said it had received 18 proposals, nearly double the amount it received last year.

Seven applications have been selected to share funding of SEK5.9m (€500,000), one of the biggest grants it has awarded.

The largest share of this year’s funding will go to Philip Linder of the Karolinska Institutet to fund research into casual effects of gambling advertising. The study will use advanced statistical methods to analyse how exposure to gambling advertising affects gambling behaviour in real-life situations. The aim is to seek insights into whether gambling advertising leads to increased gambling and, if so, how much, and among which groups.

Sara Lindholm Larsson, chair of Svenska Spel’s research council, said: “This is absolute proof that gaming research today is an urgent social issue in need of more knowledge and evidence. This year’s applications had a very high quality, which is a direct effect of more research collaborations and new creative ideas. The council is finding it increasingly difficult to choose who will receive funding each year, which is exactly what we want.”

Earlier this month, The Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen fined Svenska Spel SEK2m (€175,000) for having slot machines at several venues that lacked the correct licence. The slots were found at bingo venues that had changed addresses.

Svenska Spel said the failure occurred due to a “misunderstanding” around the process involved when a venue changes its physical address.