Svenska Spel vows SEK42m to gambling research

Our understanding of problem gambling and underlying factors that make consumers vulnerable to addiction has improved over the years. In part, this has been done thanks to government oversight. In part, it has been achieved through the dedication of gambling companies themselves. Svenska Spel, the Swedish gambling quasi-monopoly, has been investing heavily in understanding problem gambling.

Since 2010, the company has donated more than SEK60m ($5.65m) to help tailor products that keep in mind consumer well-being. Now, the company has announced an additional SEK40m ($3.95m) donation to help the company continue to study the problem in collaboration with trained and educated specialists.

This has been made possible through the company’s dedicated Research Council which was set up with the idea of securing funding and delivering actionable scientific data that tackles gambling addiction and related harm. As a result, the company will continue working with Lund University professor who studies gambling, Anders Håkansson.

The funding will help with Håkansson’s research over the next five years and help garner further insight into gambling and the different triggers that motivate human behavior when exposed to games of chance. Svenska Spel, though, hopes that its investment will contribute to a pathway to design tools that will help with pressing problems such as the prevention and treatment of gambling addiction.

Intervention tools can still go a long way, the company believes, with Research Council Chairwoman Sara Lindholm agreeing. Svenska Spel CEO Patrik Hofbauer noted that the Research Council has been a big part in helping tackle problem gambling and treat gambling addiction in Sweden.

Svenska Spel hopes that its funding can achieve several objectives at the same time. First, it hopes to deepen local expertise and understanding, but the company also expects to broaden international cooperation so the exchange of know-how may yield better results for consumers.

A big focus of the research according to Håkansson is to make sure that problem gambling and symptoms are detected very early so that adequate help can be delivered quickly, in a targeted way, and above all else – efficiently. The research will be funded at a rate of SEK8.5m annually.

Responsible gambling is also an important part of the work that Casino Guru does in the industry. The company has launched one of its most ambitious plans to date with the Self-Exclusion Global Initiative seeking to protect consumers by encouraging companies to be more proactive and participate in the program.

Sweden was in the throes of a dilemma on how to approach problem gambling during the pandemic, with some suggesting strict deposit restrictions while others called for a better understanding of addiction and an evidence-based approach to any restrictions.