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On November 7, the CEOs of the gambling companies Svenska Spel and ATG published an op-ed in one of Sweden’s main newspapers – Svenska Dagbladet – in which they propose a total ban on all bonuses in the Swedish licensed gambling market.

BOS – the Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling – responds today in the same paper that such a ban would unilaterally benefit Svenska Spel and ATG commercially, at the cost of poorer consumer protection in Sweden. The latter is related to the fact that a total bonus ban is expected to contribute to an accelerated transition from legally licensed gambling to unregulated unlicensed gambling.

“The elephant in the room for consumer protection is that consumers are to such a large extent absent from the legally licensed part of the gambling market. Instead, they have chosen the unregulated unlicensed market to an alarming extent, partly because of the very generous bonus systems offered there. We should not have that kind of excesses with sky-high bonuses in the licensed market, but to completely ban any form of moderate bonus offer is to give up the fight of defending the licensed gambling market and its consumer protection,” says BOS Secretary General Gustaf Hoffstedt.

Svenska Spel’s and ATG’s debate article is available here: https://www.svd.se/a/nyky6B/bonusar-maste-bort-driver-pa-ungas-spelande-skriver-debattorer

BOS’ debate article is available here, signed by Gustaf Hoffstedt, published today, November 14: https://www.svd.se/a/GyvAK4/spelbolagschefer-driver-spelarna-till-olagliga-spel-skriver-gustaf-hoffstedt

A translated version of Gustaf Hoffstedt’s op-ed can be read below:

Svenska Spel and ATG sacrifice consumer protection

Tighten the conditions for licensed gambling companies even further, demand gambling company CEOs Anna Johnson and Hasse Lord Skarplöth, Svenska Spel and ATG respectively, on SvD Debatt. Today, all forms of programs for loyal gambling customers are already prohibited in the Gaming Act. Johnson and Lord Skarplöth want this ban to now be extended to the currently permitted bonuses for new gambling customers. All in the name of protecting the gambling consumer.

Their reasoning may seem logical to someone who is not more deeply familiar with the conditions in the gambling market. What the reasoning, however, completely ignores is the elephant in the room when it comes to consumer protection in the Swedish gambling market: that consumers are increasingly abandoning licensed gambling companies in favour of companies that operate outside the regulated gambling market. According to a recent study by ATG, one of the signatories of the op-ed, the share of unlicensed online casino gambling can now account for just over 40 percent of turnover. In the unlicensed gambling market, the absence of consumer protection is total. The Swedish state receives zero kronor in gambling tax there and zero kronor in profit from its own state-owned gambling operations.

In the name of good consumer protection, the 40 percent lost to the unlicensed gambling market outweighs the 60 percent who still play licensed. This is because most high-volume gamblers are found among the 40 percent. High-volume gamblers are not synonymous with problem gamblers, but it is among these 40 percent that Swedish consumer protection needs to reach. Which it does not do today.

We believe that everyone agrees and is concerned that gambling among young people under the age of 18 is a growing problem, but to claim that this is due to the welcome bonuses that are currently offered to adult players, without mentioning how today’s young people learn to play for money through so-called skins and loot boxes in their favourite games, is not serious. Especially since data from our neighbouring country Denmark clearly points to the latter as the main reason for the increase in youth problem gambling there.

A high proportion of legally licensed gambling is achieved through striking a balance between consumer protection and gambling pleasure. The gambling consumers must themselves want to be in the licensed gambling market. If this is not achieved, the entire system will collapse.

The gambling authority Spelinspektionen has asked gambling consumers why they prefer to play unlicensed in Sweden to such a large extent. Among the main explanations is always the absence of loyalty programs for existing customers. Now Johnson and Lord Skarplöth also want to remove the possibility of giving a bonus to a new gambling customer. If they get their way, we probably haven’t seen the bottom yet in how low the proportion of legally licensed gambling can fall. As a reference, the Netherlands can be mentioned, whose gambling authority KSA recently announced that the proportion of illegal gambling now accounts for more than half of their gambling market.

So why are Svenska Spel and ATG acting in this way? Well, because even in a shrinking legal gambling market, there are market shares to defend. Both of these gambling companies, which emerged from the Swedish gambling monopoly, took significant market shares with them from the start when the Swedish gambling market was reregulated in 2019. The fact that their competitors, who in many cases start with zero customers on their data base, are prohibited from offering a bonus when a new customer is recruited is of course tempting for the old monopolists.

But they bite their own tail. Because with demands for further restrictions on the legal licensed gambling market, they can only defend their market share in an increasingly shrinking license market.

This is sad to see, because the Swedish gems ATG and Svenska Spel, where in the latter case all Swedes are part-owners of the company, could instead have shown leadership in defending a sustainable gambling license market. These two companies could have brought together the gambling market, or at least the members of their own trade association, for some common good. However, they ignore this and run solo games for short-term benefit for themselves, but not for Sweden and above all not for consumer protection in the gambling market.

Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General, BOS – The Swedish Trade Association for Online Gambling

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BC.GAME has launched its Anniversary Campaign, rolling out a series of casino, Originals, sports and deposit offers, including a $1,000,000 Grand Lucky Draw and multiple leaderboard races available on the platform’s events hub.

On the casino side, players can unlock a First Time Bet Bonus by placing a first single bet of at least $10 on selected titles they have not played in the 12 months prior to 10 November, 00:00 UTC. Alongside this, BC.GAME is running Original Wager Race and Original Multiplier Challenge promotions for in-house games, as well as a Casino Wager Race and Casino Multiplier Challenge covering all third-party casino titles.

The campaign also introduces a GRAND LUCKY DRAW, where every $100 wagered earns one ticket towards a $1,000,000 prize pool, available until the pool is fully distributed.

In sports, the ANNIVERSARY SPORTS LOSSBACK offer provides 10% lossback as Free Bets on qualifying losing pre-match single bets on the Winner market, backed by a $500,000 pool and running until 12 December. The COMBO KING promotion rewards users who place combo bets across eligible sports with tiered cashback of up to 250%.

Finally, BC.GAME is adding two deposit-based events. The DEPOSIT LEADERBOARD grants one point for every $1 deposited, with players who reach $10,000 in deposits sharing a $50,000 prize pool on a weekly reset. The DAILY DEPOSIT – ULTIMATE QUEST runs on a 25-day schedule, where the first qualifying deposit of each day unlocks a reward and completing all 25 days can provide a 100% boost on the Day 25 deposit, subject to caps.

All offers are subject to BC.GAME’s general terms and any applicable regional restrictions.

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Proposals to significantly increase the tax rate on gaming machines could have dire consequences, threatening the existence of 3,400 betting shops and putting 25,000 jobs at risk, as highlighted by industry research.

According to findings from the Betting and Gaming Council, a recent report submitted to the Treasury by a think tank suggests raising the Machine Games Duty (MGD) from 20% to 50%, which could devastate high streets across Britain. Currently, there are about 5,800 betting shops in the UK, which not only support 42,000 jobs but also contribute £140 million annually to horse racing.

This sector pays approximately £1 billion in direct taxes to the Treasury and another £60 million in business rates to local councils. Under the proposed increase from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), with each bookmaker restricted to four gaming machines, we could see the closure of 3,400 shops. This could lead to the loss of 25,000 jobs and a reduction of £84 million in essential funding for horse racing, further straining already beleaguered high streets.

This warning comes in the context of campaigns from anti-gambling organizations urging Chancellor Rachel Reeves to elevate taxes on regulated betting and gaming as a means to help bridge a £30 billion shortfall in public finances.

BGC Chief Executive Grainne Hurst said: “Any increase in betting and gaming taxes on any part of the industry would hammer ordinary punters while threatening British jobs, high streets and the future of horse racing.

“The figures for Machine Games Duty speak for themselves – thousands of shop closures, tens of thousands of job losses, and an £84 million hit to horse racing. This isn’t a small tweak to the tax system – it’s an act of economic vandalism against communities, workers and Britain’s second most popular spectator sport.

“These proposals risk achieving the exact opposite of what the Treasury intends – lower tax receipts, fewer jobs and more punters turning to unsafe, unregulated black market gambling.

“Britain’s betting and gaming sector is one of the most highly regulated in the world, supporting jobs, investment and sport across the UK.

“We urge the Government to resist short-term tax raids that would cause long-term damage – to jobs, to the economy, and to the future of British sport.”

Nearly half of all UK pubs host at least one gaming machine, earning landlords around £9,000 a year on average. Any sharp increase in MGD would add further pressure on those businesses, as well as on bingo halls and casinos that also rely on gaming machines for revenue.

The wider high street would feel the impact too. Research by ESA Retail found that 89% of betting shop customers visit other local businesses during the same trip – underlining the role bookmakers play in supporting footfall and spending.

BGC members currently contribute £6.8 billion to the UK economy, pay £4 billion in taxes, and support more than 109,000 jobs – including thousands in hubs such as Manchester, Leeds, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunderland and Nottingham.

The IPPR has suggested that increasing gambling taxes could raise up to £3.2 billion a year by hiking MGD and Remote Gambling Duty to 50%, and doubling General Betting Duty to 30%.

However, independent analysis shows such measures would damage the regulated sector, cut jobs and tax income, and drive more consumers towards unregulated operators.

Source: bettingandgamingcouncil.com

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