A renewed push to ban bonuses in Sweden’s online gambling market has created a fresh and decisive split between the country’s former state monopolies and private operators.
The debate was reopened after state-linked operators Svenska Spel and ATG publicly called for a complete ban on bonuses for all licensed online operators.
The proposal to ban bonuses immediately triggered strong reactions across the sector in Sweden, with BOS Secretary General Gustaf Hoffstedt warning that such a sweeping change would only serve to push players toward the former monopolies and unregulated, unlicensed websites.
On November 7th, Svenska Spel’s Anna Johnson and ATG’s Hasse Lord Skarplöth published a joint opinion piece advocating for the bonus ban, arguing that welcome bonuses could lead to gambling problems and may hold undue appeal for younger users.
They supported their position by citing data from the Swedish Association for Alcohol and Drug Education, which reported that gambling among boys in second-year high school had risen significantly, from 27 percent to 43 percent over five years. Their proposal seeks to entirely remove all forms of bonus incentives currently used by licensed operators to attract new customers.
Industry leaders, led by BOS Secretary General Gustaf Hoffstedt, share the concern about rising gambling activity among young people but sharply dispute the link between adult welcome bonuses and this trend.
Hoffstedt challenged the monopolies’ rationale, arguing that removing bonuses would disproportionately benefit Svenska Spel and ATG, who carried substantial customer bases into the 2019 re-regulation. He noted that private operators rely on recruitment tools to compete against firms with historical customer databases.
Furthermore, Hoffstedt warned that tighter restrictions without balance could reduce the size of the legal market, driving customers to unlicensed websites that continue to offer bonuses without any consumer protections.
Sweden is currently reviewing its Gambling Act to strengthen enforcement against illegal operators, and the final decision on bonuses will determine how the market balances consumer protection with the necessity of maintaining a competitive, attractive legal environment.
Gustaf Hoffstedt, BOS Secretary General:
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.
