SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Spelpaus, Swedish gambling’s centralised self-exclusion system has hit the milestone of registering 100,000 users at risk of gambling harms.
Operated by Spelinspektionen, Sweden’s Gambling Inspectorate, Spelpaus was launched on 1 January 2019 as the primary player protection service of Sweden’s relaunched online gambling marketplace.
By law, Swedish online gambling operators are required to connect their databases with the Spelpaus register, to ensure that self-excluded customers have no access to websites and cannot be marketed to.
In 2022, Spelinspektionen was granted funds to launch the revamped Spelpaus 2.0 self-exclusion system, as part of the government’s review of Swedish gambling’s consumer protections and safeguards.
Launched at the close of 2022, Spelpaus 2.0, featured enhanced self-exclusion functionalities, improved ID verification services and a new website design with clear guidance on self-exclusion and family referrals.
Furthermore, 2023 saw the Inspectorate launch a nationwide campaign promoting Spelpaus self-exclusion programme across Swedish provinces.
The most recent update sees Spelinspektionen detail a 25% increase in self-exclusions registered by Spelpaus, which in 2022 recorded 80,000 users since its launch.
This September, the Swedish government confirmed that it will boost the Gambling Inspectorate’s budget by an additional SEK 20m (around €1.8m) for the period of 2024-to-2026.
The additional funding is required for Spelinspektionen to revamp its sports betting integrity monitoring systems in line with those of the Macolin Convention of the Council of Europe.
Spelinspektionen has allocated further budget to develop new monitoring solutions and protections against black market operators targeting Swedish consumers.
