In order to protect its citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sweden decided it would be a good idea to limit iGaming activity, implementing restrictions on how much money could be deposited and what type of bonuses could be provided by licensed operators. Billed as “temporary” restrictions, the limits are not going anywhere anytime soon, as they were just extended again, this time until the end of next June. However, these restrictions could be viewed as almost irrelevant, as Swedes are apparently clueless when it comes to separating licensed from non-licensed gambling platforms. As a result, it’s easy to deduce that more than a handful of gamblers are still sending their money to non-licensed operators.
A survey (pdf) just conducted by the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) revealed something interesting about Swedes and gambling. The gaming regulator interviewed 1,737 people and learned that 95% don’t know whether or not a site is licensed, or how to tell the difference. Four out of five indicated that they “probably” played at a licensed site, but couldn’t positively confirm that they had – or that they had not.
Sweden updated its gambling laws last year, and the results of the survey reflect the same numbers that were seen last year. Only 3% could definitively say that they had not gambled through an unlicensed operator, which means 97% could have, even if they didn’t realize it. This led Mattias Folkesson, a manager for online casino comparison site casinodealen.se, to assert, “The re-regulation took place largely to increase players’ security, which is why it is worrying to learn that so few Swedes know how to see if a brand has a license from the Swedish Gambling Authority. It is important information that those responsible do not seem to have communicated clearly.”
The survey showed that gambling continues to gain popularity in Sweden, as well. In 2020, 66% of those surveyed acknowledged having gambled, while only 60% responded positively last year. However, with responsible gaming now being more of an issue than ever, Sweden has apparently missed the mark in educating the public on where to go if they think they have a problem, with 81% indicating that they didn’t know where to go if they have a problem.