BOS: Sweden’s Public Transport Advertising Ban Is a Blank Lottery Ticket

The Stockholm public transport’s to ban online gambling advertising is a bad move, according to Gustaf Hoffstedt, the secretary director of The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling (BOS).

In an opinion piece, Hoffstedt addressed the ban, saying that it would hurt both sectors. He pointed out that Stockholm public transport gets approximately SEK 20 million a year to display gambling ads. However, the ban may lead to a revenue loss of over SEK 50 million per year, BOS’s secretary director added.

While Hoffstedt admitted that the ultimate goal of gambling ads is not altruistic, he added that it also enables “socially important activities” such as independent investigative journalism and well-financed public transport that is cheap to use.

Hoffstedt added that if the Swedish gambling sector starts advertising on international media platforms, the Stockholm transport sector would only lose money.

Banning Ads Will Empower Illegal Operators

The BOS secretary general went a step further and accused regional politicians of not complying with the Riksdag. According to him, the ban on online gambling ads abolishes freedom of expression in what he believes is the most important public space in Stockholm – public transport.

The regional politicians in Stockholm also embark on a slippery slope. The next time it’s advertisements for soft drinks or other sweetened products that are censored, or charter trips to sunny beaches, or healthcare offers from online doctors.

As a result, the public transport income would decline, leading to increasingly worse conditions and more expensive tickets.

Hoffstedt conceded that gambling is unlike other products and needs to be heavily regulated. However, he believes that the current regulations are fair and that the market is mature.

Despite that, the Swedish market still faces fierce competition from unregulated online operators. According to Hoffstedt, banning legal advertisements in public transport would exacerbate this issue, providing illegal companies with an edge over their licensed counterparts.

Hoffstedt concluded that unregulated companies have no interest in complying with Sweden’s customer protection laws, which is why it is important to protect the legal gambling sector and create a safe and secure market. He concluded that advertisements in public transport would not only benefit the travelers but the Swedish economy and the health of the country’s gambling market as well.