A report published by the Swedish Online Gaming Industry Association (BOS) has found that 77% of Sweden’s online gaming market is channeled, a percentage the association describes as “critically low”.

Sweden’s channeling target – the percentage of licensed gambling offerings it wants on the market – is currently 90%.

BOS commissioned Swedish survey organization SKOP to analyze online gambling channelization rates in the country, looking at specific categories such as sports betting and online casino.

Gustaf Hoffstedt, Secretary General of the BOS, emphasized the seriousness of the low channelization rate.

“There is no doubt that the Swedish licensing system is in a serious situation,” Hoffstedt said. “Far too much power has been used by the state to force licensed gambling companies to implement measures that have not been well received by gambling consumers.”

He added that reversing this trend would require regulator Spelinspektionen to focus on finding and shutting down unlicensed offerings on the market.

“If we are to succeed in reversing this trend, a shift in mentality on the part of the state will be required from hunting down, fining and restricting gaming offerings to licensed gambling establishments to hunting down the unlicensed ones,” he continued.

Survey results

SKOP interviewed 9,850 people for the survey. It was found that 3,000 of them participated in gambling activities at least once a quarter.

The survey was conducted between February 22 and March 21, 2023.

To determine the channelization rate, SKOP asked participants when they last participated in online gambling and how much they had wagered at that time. SKOP then asked participants if they knew whether the website had a Swedish license.

This affected all types of online gambling.

A total of 77% of participants said they knew the site was licensed. However, 11% said they knew the site they were betting on was unlicensed. Additionally, 12% said they didn’t know whether the website had a license or not.

The survey also found that lotteries have the highest channelization rate at 91%. Both online casinos and poker have channelization rates of 72%.

Betting on harness racing has a channelization rate of 89%, while sports betting is at 84%.