Sweden’s gaming industry hopes the new government resulting from the September 11 election will be less friendly with the former gaming monopoly Svenska Spel and relax some rules for others.
It was a close Riksdag election, but most projections believe a right-leaning ruling coalition will result, and that the government led by the Social Democratic Party will be replaced.
The current government, which passed the Gambling Act that opened the online gaming market, has been highly criticized by the Swedish trade association Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS). The secretary general of that association, Gustaf Hoffstedt, says a different government would be welcome.
Points of friction between the industry and government included the temporary SEK5,000 deposit cap imposed during the pandemic. Hoffstedt told IGB: “From a strict gambling regulatory perspective, a development with a new government would be welcome.” He added, “The outgoing Social Democratic minister responsible for gambling policy took the long-awaited initiative to abolish the gambling monopoly in favor of licenses, but after that the minister did not show the system enough care.”
The outgoing government was too cozy with Sweden’s former monopolies, he said, including the lottery Svenska Spel and racing operator ATG, but was cool toward gaming businesses that didn’t originate in Sweden.
Hoffstedt added, “Gambling companies with close connections to the Social Democratic Party received positive preferential treatment, international gambling companies were treated stepmotherly and the spirit of consensus that characterized the political parties in the Riksdag was wasted.”
Parties in the new coalition had called for Svenska Spel to be broken up, but the government allowed it to continue to operate and compete in the new market. So that break up might be in the cards now, he said. “If there is a change of government, it is reasonable to expect that a possible sale of AB Svenska Spel’s subsidiary Sport & Casino will be higher on the agenda, because both the Moderates and the Sweden Democrats, who are both part of the new majority, have advocated just that.”
The association was also unhappy that the government adopted vague rules that avoided being harsh, but created uncertainty.
Hoffstedt said the tightening of the market the old government proposed might not win approval with the new government. “And maybe we can also hope for a somewhat more liberal bonus regulation for betting and casino products, but we don’t know much about that yet.”
