SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS), Sweden’s online gambling trade association, has highlighted consumer misconceptions related to the country’s gambling marketplace.
The trade body has published the “Novus Report: Perceptions of the Gambling Industry Amongst Swedes” detailing comprehensive insights into the Swedish public’s views on gambling and related advertising.
Commissioned by BOS, Swedish research agency Novus conducted a survey of 1054 participants, providing a representative sample of Sweden’s population, undertaken via web interviews of a randomly selected panel.
Research analysed how often Swedes gamble, on both traditional and online platforms, participants’ attitudes and opinions on advertising and their perceptions of gambling in Sweden.
On gambling habits, the Novus survey detailed that 57% of respondents reported participating in gambling activities, with 1% gambling almost daily, 15% weekly, and another 15% monthly, while 41% stated they never gamble.
The survey indicated diverse opinions on gambling advertising, as 72% of participants believed that gambling advertising had increased in the past three years since Sweden re-regulated its gambling marketplace in 2019.
Misconceptions begin to appear on advertising prevalence, as 58% of participants believe the gambling industry (including Swedish lotteries) is the biggest buyer of advertisements in Sweden.
Regarding gambling’s involvement in sponsorships and advertising, 32% of participants harbour negative feelings towards sponsorship of sports. However, a much larger segment, 73%, disapprove of celebrities featuring in gambling advertisements.
Of concern to stakeholders, BOS detailed a significant discrepancy in perceptions, with Swedes on average believing that 23% of the population suffers from gambling addiction, whilst the actual figure, including those at risk of harm, is currently just over 4%.
Further misconceptions were detailed on trust related to payouts as the Swedish public mistakenly believes that gambling companies only return 21% of bets to players. In reality, the Return to Player (RTP) rate is approximately 95%.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, BOS Secretary General, highlighted the urgent need to correct these misconceptions to ensure a more informed public opinion and appropriate regulatory response.
“This report shows a huge knowledge gap and it’s clear that we need to work harder to spread the true picture of the gambling industry.
“It is no wonder that many demand even tighter regulation of the gambling industry when the general opinion is that almost every fourth Swede suffers from a gambling addiction, when the real figure is one in one hundred.”
