Sweden Sets New Advertising Standards For Gambling Operators

Sweden will see a new set of advertising standards for gambling operators rolled out from 01 April. The Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS) and Spelbranschens Riksförbund (SPER) which are the two main trade associations for the gambling industry have decided to come out with an official advertising code of conduct that gambling operators must comply with at all times.

Sweden has a newly regulated market and wants to ensure that things are set in place from the start rather than have loose controls and face major problems at a later stage like the United Kingdom.

The UK had very liberal advertising regulations that allowed gambling and sports betting operators to advertise heavily and it caused a major backlash as it sparked concerns as the ads targeted minors and is also alleged to have played a role in the increase in problem gambling concerns.

Sweden licensed its online gambling market earlier this year and gaming operators spent heavily on advertising during the first quarter of 2019 in order to establish their brand and capture market share. The heavy advertising caused Ardalan Shekarabi, who is the Minister for Consumer Affairs to express his concerns and ask for regulations to be put in place immediately.

As a result, the BOS and SPER have come out with a set of 9 key self-regulatory concerns that gambling operators will have to follow in their advertising.

Main Regulations

Gambling operators will have to ensure that their advertisements do not mislead the viewer and hence must have clear disclaimers stating that all games are based on chance and no guarantee can be made over winnings. They also need to make sure that their advertisements are transparent and accurate at all times.

Gambling operators must also be clear with their bonus offers and not have any hidden terms that look to trap players or mislead them. They should also make sure that their gambling ads in no way condone or suggest that gambling is a solution for financial problems. The code of conduct also has very strict rules which prevent gambling operators from targeting minors.

The code of conduct also asks operators to focus on responsible gambling and to make a commitment towards social causes. They will be required to provide problem gambling resources on their websites which makes it easy for gamblers to reach out to problem gambling resources.