BOS Says Sweden Should Regulate Its Gambling More Like Denmark

A new look into how the Nordics regulate their gambling markets by the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS) has compared the markets in Sweden and Denmark. According to the trade body, Sweden can take a page from Denmark’s book.

By comparing the Danish iGaming and gambling market, BOS has arrived at recommendations that it has referred to the local watchdog, Spelinspektionen, pointing out that Denmark achieves a more stable and higher channelization rate than Sweden.

Ailing Channelization Unlikely to Improve

“We hope that the report will be a useful tool and encourage Sweden to find inspiration in several of the measures and approaches that have been so successfully implemented in Denmark,” said BOS secretary general Gustaf Hoffstedt.

According to BOS, Sweden may never reach its target of a 90% channelization rate if things are going the way they are right now. To help strengthen the regulated market, BOS lays out an 18-point plan, which it believes can drive further growth, as well as capture the players who turn to offshore operators because of a lack of legal options.

BOS urges caution in overreaching and wasting precious time, resources, and efforts in dead-end solutions, such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) blocks or payment blocking. Restrictions, the trade group argues.

These measures are ineffective and too resource-heavy to yield the necessary results. Players, BOS explains, are not withdrawn from the regulated market because they do not know about offshore companies, but rather because they do not find anything of value onshore.

The Regulator Needs to Focus on Dialogue, Not Punishments

BOS similarly believes that Sweden regulates its industry by using punitive measures over dialogue-focused regulation that could yield meaningful and impactful changes that help close some of the glaring gaps in regulation.

“Some of them are strictly rule-based, such as how loyalty programs are regulated. Some are more difficult to grasp and of a cultural nature, but just as important, and are connected to the policymaker’s attitude to the industry it is supervising,” Hoffstedt added, urging lawmakers to take a closer look at what the current issues in the market are and how they can be better addressed.