Sweden campaigns for gambling awareness
The gambling regulator from Sweden is set to launch a nationwide campaign to increase awareness around gambling.
Sweden.- Spelinspektionen, the gambling regulator from Sweden, has announced the launch of a broad nationwide campaign with the aim of raising awareness around gambling. This is the first campaign since Sweden re-regulated the gaming market in January 2019.
This campaign is also the first one since the regulator changed its name from Lottery Inspectorate to Spelinspektionen. Spelinspektionen’s campaign is spreading widely across the country for two weeks in late December and early January and will be seen outdoors, in print and in digital channels.
The campaign budget is €238k, which is relatively little compared to the gaming companies’ advertising investments. But the campaign runs during the interim days as the price is significantly lower than usual. This is the first part of a long-term effort to increase awareness of the regulator’s mission and counteract gambling problems and increase the proportion of gambling companies with Swedish licensed companies.
Anders Sims, communications manager at the Swedish watchdog, said: “By telling us that the regulator is there, what we do and above all why, we hope to make the market safer for everyone who plays.”
“The license is a security stamp. It is the regulator that issues the licenses and is responsible for calling the companies that are licensed to ensure that they live up to the Swedish regulations. We want those who play to know what applies so that they can choose companies with a Swedish licence.”
Gambling participation down in Sweden
Spelinspektionen carried out a report along with Novus. The information shows that since the re-regulation of the local industry has brought a 6% decline in gambling participation in Sweden.
Around 60% of Swedish people said that they’ve participated in gambling activity over the past 12 months. This figure represents a 6% setback when compared to the same period a year ago. Compared to the first report from 2013, the decline rises to 16%.
The regulator said that 4% of all online gambling players said that they played on a site without a Swedish licence. 18% said that they don’t know about their licences and 78% said that they’ve never played on a site without a Swedish licence.
Moreover, 50% of all players that participated in the survey said that they’re familiar with spelpaus.se, the gambling authority’s national self-suspension register.
