SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
LeoVegas AB has launched a Swedish public awareness campaign promoting safe play with licensed online gambling incumbents.
The Stockholm-listed online gambling group said it has chosen to launch the campaign to defend the industry against common misconceptions and falsehoods.
LeoVegas wants to drive awareness of licensed online gambling incumbents, after independent reports highlighted that the Swedish government has failed in its re-regulation mandate to eliminate the black market targeting national consumers.
Government relations have worsened under lockdown, as the Riksdag (parliament) approved ‘emergency proposals’ drafted by the Ministry of Health enforcing temporary restrictions on player deposits and wagering from 1 June.
LeoVegas has written to the Ministry of Finance underlining that wagering restrictions will place the nascent Swedish regulated online gambling marketplace at risk, endangering national consumers.
LeoVegas urged the Ministry of Finance to demand a review of marketplace limitations, in which evidence points that every fourth krona wagered on online casino is staked through a ‘black company’.
Swedish ice hockey legend Tommy Söderström fronts LeoVegas’ awareness campaign, promoting industry facts and urging consumers to be more conscious of their choice of legal gambling site.
Hans Uhrus, Director of Communications at LeoVegas, said; “As for so many fast-growing and relatively new industries, there is often a great ignorance and misunderstanding of the business and its industry logic. This is also the case for the gaming industry.
“In our upcoming campaign, we address both new and existing players, but also those who do not play. We want to highlight how important it is that those who want to play choose licensed companies and not unlicensed actors.
“We want to highlight this [responsible gambling] in our advertisements and show some of the things we do and how the Swedish regulated market works.”
