ATG, Svenska Spel and Kindred Group will join forces and publish data relating to customers who display signs of problematic gambling. The aim is to increase public awareness and contribute to a fact-based dialogue about what is done to reduce gambling harm. Four data points will be published bi-annually, disclosing metrics such as the percentage of customers contacted by the gambling operators following the detection of harmful gambling behaviours and the impact on customer behaviour following contact from the operators.
ATG, Svenska Spel1 and Kindred Group plc (Kindred) account for more than half of the regulated gambling market in Sweden2. In order to support an open and fact-based dialogue, each of the three gambling operators will individually report the following data every six months:
- The percentage of customers who are contacted as a result of problematic gambling (of the total number of active customers)
- The effect of proactive contacts (share of customers who reduce their gambling)
- How much have these individuals reduced their gambling on average
- The share of contacted customers who choose to self-exclude themselves from gambling at the operators3.
Sweden is a market prone to gambling. In the Swedish Public Health Agency’s population survey, Swelogs, from 2021, 56 per cent of the population stated that they gambled for money in the past year. Even though gambling is a widespread and popular source of entertainment, repeated surveys show that the public's trust in the gambling industry is low and has been so for several years.
Through new research in the field of gambling addiction, gambling operators today know more about the psychological driving forces behind problematic gambling and which interventions can effectively prevent and address problematic gambling. Operators today also have access to advanced technical support, which is increasingly used to distinguish between gambling for entertainment and unhealthy gambling behavior among customers.
“These key metrics, which we will report every six months, will make it easier for our stakeholders to follow and understand how we, with the help of regulations, technology, research and human contact, work to counteract harmful gambling . We believe that a more fact-based and open dialogue contributes to increased trust in our industry and make other operators more inclined to follow suit”, says Henrik Tjärnström, CEO of Kindred Group.
“Kindred started to share it’s revenue from harmful gambling already in February 2021 in an attempt to provide more facts about the gambling industry. While we remain firmly committed to our ambition of zero revenue from harmful gambling, this recent initiative between ATG, Svenska Spel and us creates further transparency in the Swedish market. I am convinced it will encourage the gambling industry, and those associated with the industry, to work harder towards a more sustainable form of entertainment, continues Henrik Tjärnström.
In an op-ed published in Dagens Nyheter on 26 October (in Swedish), the three gambling operators urge more operators to also start reporting these key metrics.
[1] The key figures will pertain to Svenska Spel Sport & Casino.
2 Estimation based on open sources such as quarterly reports, official data from the Swedish Gambling Authority and the Swedish Tax Agency's data on gambling tax paid.
3 That a player has chosen to exclude oneself from gambling means that the player has chosen to exclude him/herself from one, several or all forms of gambling at the operator in question (ATG, Kindred Group, Svenska Spel), for a certain period of time or until further notice. It does not include suspensions that players have made on the national suspension register spelpaus.se.
