Micromanagement could kill legal gambling in Sweden, says trade group

While having regulations in place can help any gambling market mature and protect consumers, micromanaging those regulations could prove to be counterproductive. That’s the message a Swedish online gambling trade association wants to impress on gambling regulators as the group warns that micromanagement could fuel more interest in black market online gambling participation.

The Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) issued its words of caution in response to an update on the state of gambling in Sweden that was published by Spelinspektionen, the country’s gaming authority. Spelinspektionen reported that licensed gambling operators control between 85-87% of the market, with the rest being controlled by black and grey markets.

That figure, points out BOS, is for all gaming in the country – regulated and licensed online gambling sees a lower percentage of the market. Across all of the numbers, the figures are lower than what has been reported by Spelinspektionen and lower than the government’s preferred target of 90% to licensed operators. This is because the gaming authority is being too strict on gambling activity.

Spelinspektionen isn’t done yet, either, and this worries BOS even more. The regulator is reportedly set to introduce even tighter controls on gambling, which would include a complete ban on advertising and prohibition on certain types of wagers, such as those where the outcome of the wager could be influenced by a single player. These would include many prop bets that are generated from things like corner kicks and penalty cards in soccer.