Sweden is a Scandinavian country with a penchant for sports, betting games, and online casinos. These three are all intertwined and are a popular part of Swedish culture. The hype surrounding sports such as football, equestrians, and ice hockey lead to a flurry of online bets and casino games that people truly enjoy.
Things become even better when social media is thrown into the trilogy of Swedish favorites. Social media plays a big role in promoting both sports and gambling activities in the country. Sports enthusiasts, game bettors, and online casino players monitor social media platforms to keep themselves abreast of important sports events and happenings.
This post will look deeper into the connections between Swedish sports, casinos, betting games, and social media. We’ll see how sports fuel the gambling industry in the country, as well as the impact of social media on all of these activities.
Sports Popularity and the History of Swedish Betting and Casino Industry
Sports has become a national pastime of the Swedish people. The youth are regularly trained in various sports, especially in football. People from all ages come in droves to arenas whenever a sports event is happening. Those who can’t watch live stay glued to their television sets, smartphones, and social media platforms instead.
Such is the popularity of sports in Sweden that online betting has become a lucrative market. People love betting on the next winners of each sports event in the country. Bookmakers such as Svenska Spel and ATG are the ones that dominate the industry in the past. But the betting industry’s landscape has changed recently with the introduction of Sweden’s new Gambling Act last January 2019.
Sweden previously imposed a stringent monopoly on gambling and casino activities, hoping to stop illegal gambling and prevent addiction among people. Svenska Spel was the sole bookmaker in the country since 1934. It handles gaming machine operations, lotteries, and sports betting. Online bingo, poker, and scratch-card style games were introduced in the early 2000s.
Other European bookmakers tried setting up operations in Sweden but ultimately failed. British betting company Ladbrokes attempted to enter the Swedish market in 2005, but the Swedish Supreme Administrative Court rejected them.
Unregulated Gambling Activities
Due to the stringent regulations on casinos and betting, Swedish people started to patronize foreign gambling companies. Major European companies opened its doors to Swedish people and even translated their websites in Swedish to help them understand the markets well. Companies who capitalized on this opportunity included the following:
- Coral
- Ladbrokes
- Betfair
- William Hill
Foreign companies with strong Swedish ties also emerged, and it includes the following:
- UK-based Unibet
- Malta-based Betsafe and Betsson AB
The Swedish government cannot impose penalties on these operators for accepting Swedish bettors and players. This is why foreign companies didn’t see anything wrong with offering their services to the Swedish people.
Opening Up of the Gambling Market
Sweden released its Gambling Act in January 2019. The legislation now allows international gambling companies to operate legally within Sweden. This is a major breakthrough for the entire gambling and online casino industry in the country. Betting operators and online casinos were allowed to apply for gaming licenses since July 1, 2018, months before the new legislation took effect.
The gambling market is poised to grow even larger today because of the new Gambling Act. This is good news for most of the Swedish gamers and sports enthusiasts. Now, they have easier access to various bookmakers and casino på nätet (online casinos in Swedish local language), taking the Swedish love for gambling up a notch.
The Role of Social Media
Social media outlets have become popular platforms for Swedish online casinos and betting sites. People are almost always on social media not just to connect with their family, friends, and loved ones, but also to stay updated about the latest happenings in sports and gambling.
Teams from various Swedish sports events such as football use social media to update their fans about events and game results. They post game schedules, photos from the games itself, and even videos of the actual sports event on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube so that people can catch up and be updated all the time.
Social media is also a popular platform for bookmakers and online casinos. These establishments turn to social media sites to help promote their gambling services and keep their existing customer base updated on the latest happenings.
Bookmakers typically post the following:
- Latest sports matches where people may bet on
- Betting odds
- Actual betting winners
- Tips on sports betting
Meanwhile, Internet Swedish casinos post these things on social media:
- Best games to play online like lotteries. Bingos, poker, and more
- Prizes at stake
- Winning strategies
- Game schedules
- Winners list and leaderboards
- How to get bonuses and free spins on games
All these information and updates keep public interest in both sports and gambling high. No wonder many Swedish people patronize popular Internet casinos and bookmakers during sports events, thanks to the enormous help of social media.
Wrapping it Up
Sports, gambling, and social media play a huge role in entertaining the Swedish people. Sports events can quickly turn into betting and casino opportunities, thanks to the Swedish people’s love for sports and the influence of social media. Gambling activities and online casinos are slated to become even more popular because of the lifting of restrictions on foreign bookmaker companies, sites as Casinoorbit.com offers great guides from online casinos.
