Swedish authorities claim Svenska Spel show as advertising

Added: February 1, 2023

The BOS of Sweden claims TV4 and Svenska Spel to have violated rules by demonstrating a free-to-air TV show where they featured gambling.

The complaints were going on around gambling products being demonstrated in the short video. SPBA filed a complaint against TV4 following the provisions of the RTA. The regulatory body referred to the campaign as advertising which, however, didn’t follow the acknowledged standards. The case was even sent to the court with the request to pay a fine.

Regulators revealed that TV4 got compensation in addition to the considerable amount paid for the advertisement. TV4 explained the compensation as a sponsorship. Meanwhile, SPBA referred to the act on Radio & Television according to which this particular activity should be considered as advertising. The regulatory body further explained its position stating that marketing should be presented as such. The audience should have been notified of an advertisement in the form of a signature before and after the broadcast.

BOS secretary-general Gustaf Hoffstedt came up with the following statement:

”Today is an important day in the online gambling industry which is struggling to strengthen its position in regulated markets around the world within the framework of security. We should strive to make it more clear for everyone as to what should be considered a gambling advertising. In addition, we should go above and beyond to prevent cases when organizations try to bypass responsible gambling regulations such as underage or problem gambling. We’re happy that we made a fair conclusion which was agreed with SPBA. In this case, Svenska Spel managed to advertise its gambling products without a proper signature which gave him an advantage over its competitors he didn’t actually deserve. Today is a special day and we’re really hopeful that this will be a precedent to end covert marketing activities in iGaming.”

There were also other improvements in the industry. The Swedish authorities prepared a bill requiring B2B software providers to get a special permission in order to strike partnerships with operators in regulated markets. This is aimed at contributing to the elimination of illegal gambling in Sweden.

BOS, Svenska Spel