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Sweden – Svenska Spel calls for ban on lottery betting

By - 2 December 2019

Patrik Hofbauer, the President and CEO of Svenska Spel, wants a ban on the lottery betting industry in Sweden, claiming that lottery betting operators’ business models would not be permitted in other industries.

Describing it as ‘shadow gaming,’ Mr. Hofbauer slammed lottery betting as confusing for the customers, who may not realise that they are not actually playing the lottery itself.

“It is incomprehensible that it can continue. I can’t think of any other industry where it’s okay to use competing companies’ products as their own business. The shadow gaming companies cannibalise on well-known lotteries without owning the brands themselves that they market and sell,” Mr. Hofbauer said. “‘Deposit 25 SEK and get 100 SEK to bet on Lotto’ advertises, for example, one of the shadow gaming companies. Only further into the site does it become – hopefully – clear to the player that it is not Svenska Spel’s Lotto or another lotto draw but you are betting on the outcome of the lottery. The shadow game companies simply go low on incorporated brands. At the same time, it is very doubtful if customers understand what kind of game they are participating in. You should almost be a game technology expert to understand what betting on the outcome of lotteries means.”

“When the new Gaming Act was announced in Parliament in 2018, an investigation was also set up to monitor the effects. It was a wise decision. As the conditions for a market are fundamentally changed, it is necessary, after a while, to verify that the reforms have really provided the positive effects that the Riksdag [Sweden’s law makers] and the government have wanted to achieve. I think everyone is aware that there are sometimes negative side effects of major changes. Often it is about rogue players seeing an opening that the legislature had not foreseen. This does not mean that the re-regulation in itself is bad, only that it is extremely difficult to predict in advance all conceivable loopholes,” Mr. Hofbauer added.

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