Sweden: only 10% of players can identify licensed sites – Licensing
A survey has shown that Swedish players’ awareness of how to identify licensed sites is still extremely low, with only 10% of players saying they know how to do it.
A report from the consulting company Skopm on behalf of the supervisory authority Spelinspektionen, contained a survey of 1,600 adults in Sweden about their gambling habits in 2021.
Among the questions were questions about unlicensed gaming.
The survey found that 53% of players in recent years believe there are advantages to playing with licensed sites, and only 2% said they had knowingly and knowingly played with an unlicensed site in 2021. Meanwhile, 31% indicated that an operator was licensed as among the most important reasons for choosing an operator.
But only 10% of players said they knew how to identify if an operator is licensed. This was stable year-on-year, suggesting that no progress had been made in educating the public about the differences between the licensed and unlicensed sectors.
However, regular players were more likely to say they could identify licensed operators.
Meanwhile, 21% of respondents said they either will or may play with unlicensed operators.
Part of the population that plays
Overall, 72% of adults in Sweden had gambled in 2021. This decreased slightly compared to the previous year.
This 72% figure included 52% who had gambled in the past month and 38% who had gambled in the past week before being surveyed, up from 34% a year earlier and the highest figure since 2013.
Men were much more likely to have gambled in the past week, with 46% doing so compared to 30% of women. Older age groups and those living outside major cities were also more likely to have gambled in the past week.
Overall, 2% of players said they played “pretty much every day”.
However, 19% of respondents said they may reduce their gambling due to the rising cost of living.
Of those who did not play, the number one reason was that they never win, reported by 29% of non-players. 14% said they were tired of gambling, while 11% said there were too many gambling ads.
Lotteries were by far the most popular form of gambling, followed by horse racing and bingo. Casino gaming, poker and slots – whether land-based or online – attracted only a very small minority of players, all at 5% or less.
While 2% of Swedes said they thought they had gambled too much in the past 12 months, 6% said they knew someone who had.
However, less than 1% of respondents said they had sought help for gambling injuries.
Perceptions of Sweden’s gaming market
Respondents were also asked about their perceptions of the gaming market. When asked if gambling companies take responsibility for gambling problems, 31% said they do so “to some extent”, while 7% said they “absolutely” do and 24% said they do not at all.
There was more uncertainty about the industry in this edition than last year, and the number of “don’t know” responses increased significantly.
Meanwhile, only 4% said the industry “definitely” takes enough social responsibility, while 29% said it “maybe” does. On the other hand, 48% said it “probably” does not and 18% said it “definitely” does not.
Sweden’s fight against unlicensed gambling
Unlicensed gambling has been a big topic of discussion in Sweden. The Swedish government has worked with one proposal to obtain a permit for online gaming providers.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General of the Online Gaming Industry Association (BOS), said he welcomed this plan but was concerned that the government’s expectations of the impact it would have on canalization were too high.