BOS: Online casino restrictions could shrink Swedish channelisation to as low as 52%

Trade association BOS has claimed revised Swedish government proposals to impose deposit limits and bonus restrictions on online casino operators could shrink the regulated channelisation rate to just 52%.

In a response to the Swedish ministry of finance, BOS claimed the new measures would lead to a channelisation of between 52-63% for online casino, based on estimates from research firm Copenhagen Economics.

BOS restated its belief there is no evidence of a rise in online casino gambling during Covid-19, citing “obvious difficulties” that the ministry has found in its own evaluation of the market.

“The ministry of finance has not been able to support this claim with any evidence whatsoever. Instead, other statistics not directly related to changed consumer behaviour in online casino have been presented, at best serving as indices of changed behaviour, not proof thereof,” BOS said.

The Swedish government is currently undertaking its second consultation on proposals to limit Swedish players to SEK5,000 (£430) a week in deposits, as well as a SEK100 (£8) bonus cap.

Last month, the government revised its measures to exclude sports and horserace betting from the proposed caps, following opposition from several groups including the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA), the country’s gambling regulator.

To generate evidence on how the Swedish market has changed since Covid-19, BOS has called on the ministry of finance to assign the SGA to institute a monthly and quarterly reporting system for gambling verticals and their channelisation rates.

“Without facts, the government are at risk of making decisions that have no connection to reality, decisions that might cause irreversible damage to the Swedish gambling regulation,” BOS claimed.

The trade body also questioned whether the proposed regulations were a violation of EU law by implementing changes that are unevidenced, together with questioning the technical demands on operators in adapting to the changes within such a short space of time.

Finally, BOS argued the proposals would favour state-owned operators including Svenska Spel and ATG, which both operate online casinos, but at a much smaller scale than their international competitors.

“If the government goes ahead with its proposals, we are back to square one regarding channelisation,” the response concluded.

Industry stakeholders have until today, 5 June, to submit responses to the secondary consultation, with the proposed measures slated to come into force on 2 July.