Svenska Spel places ban on all online casino ads

[The Buzz]

Svenska Spel CEO Patrik Hofbauer announced last week that the Swedish state-owned gaming operator has terminated all forms of online casino advertising.

Below is the full translated text of his personal announcement:

At the end of last week, we took on the Swedish game decision to end our nätcasinoannonsering. It applies to all media channels during the remainder of 2019. The decision was preceded by intense internal discussions about how we can best protect our customers.

Swedish Games have always pushed the line that all the games on the license market risk should be classified and that stricter rules should apply for the more risky games, both in terms of design and marketing. With promotional stop for online casino we are now taking the plunge.

No form of gambling is completely without risk for those with risk behavior. But the difference between different types of games is huge. Reviews the Public Health Agency's new survey that came last week, you will see that online casino is in a class by itself. 30 percent of those who play the online casino has trouble controlling their gambling. This compared with, for example, three percent for the scraping of a Kind or playing Lotto online.

Support line's annual report for 2018 confirms this picture. Over 60 percent of the callers enter online casino as the main problem gambling. No other form of gaming is nearby. Closest to the sports betting at 15 percent.

These are facts that we discussed in the Swedish game last week and that got us to put his foot down. Our nätcasinoreklam already had a restrictive conception, but now we therefore choose to completely stop advertising for the rest of the year.

It can be objected. There seems to be no general link between gambling advertising and a gambling problem. The Public Health Agency's recent statistics show that fewer people experience problems with their gambling now than three years ago, despite increased advertising amount. The general gambling problems are growing not only for that advertising does.

But at the same time indicate several studies that those who already have a problematic gambling triggered by advertising. The Public Health Agency's report, we can see that the group with serious gambling problem has grown significantly in recent years and now consists of about 45 000 people. It suggests that those who are already at risk of negative impact of advertising.

That's why we put nätcasinoreklamen: Quite simply will not attract people with an already risky gambling behavior to the most risky form of gaming.

Not long after Swedish Games took this decision, I wrote three gaming managers with online casino in its portfolio a debate article in Dagens Industri . They also wanted to see an end ... for the Kind-scratch in Nyhetsmorgon. If nätcasinoreklam they had nothing to say.

If you are serious about taking responsibility, so you should deal with the problems where the problems are, even if it beats the short term the proceeds. In the long term it is the only viable. It is only then we can improve the industry's reputation.

We would like to see more online gambling company joins a publicity stop for online casino. It would show that the gaming industry takes consumer protection seriously.

Patrik Hofbauer
CEO, Swedish Games

Read more here:http://tinyurl.com/y2harmpa

[ocreditor]

It can be objected. There seems to be no general link between gambling advertising and a gambling problem.

With these findings I don't understand what is the problem