Facts on EDITORIAL REVIEW
Facts on: From Monopoly to Marketplace
Sweden, 2001–2025: How digitalisation and cross-border competition forced the end of Sweden’s state gambling monopoly in 2019—and set the stage for new divergence and liberalisation across the Nordics.
Intro
Between 2001 and 2025, digitalisation and EU legal shifts forced Sweden’s state gambling campaigns to compete with private, Malta-based brands—transforming marketing from nostalgic ritual into a high-stakes contest of trust, moderation, and mass digital persuasion.
Private operators, many with Nordic roots, utilised Malta’s regulatory model to serve Swedish players directly, triggering a fierce debate, regulatory overhaul, and ultimately, a shift online.
By 2025, the old monopoly model had ended—not just in law, but with the Riksdag’s vote to shutter all state-run casinos.
Closing of Casino Cosmopol in Stockholm. Photo: Roland Magnusson / Alamy
Setting the Scene
In the early 2000s, Sweden’s gambling market was still rooted in the rituals of family focused advertising—a model built on trust, home, and the now-iconic Triss or Lotto moment.
The monopoly still held strong in both law and culture. Digital transformation was already in motion: internet access doubled between 2000 and 2010, and by the decade’s end, nearly every Swede was online. Malta’s pioneering online regulation (2001) and EU accession (2004) created an open door for Swedish and global gaming entrepreneurs to target the home market from abroad, triggering fierce new competition and a surge of digital marketing in every channel.
By 2025, Sweden had gone from one of Europe’s most cohesive state-run monopolies to a tightly regulated and contested digital market.
Timeline & Key Points
Pillars of Nordic Gambling—2001 – 2025 Milestones
Note: Finland plans to adopt licensing in 2026/27; Norway remains a monopoly for now.
Industry perspective
“A good gambling advert is about trust: Swedes want to feel safe and in control, but the digital shift meant we had to grab attention on new screens—otherwise, younger players would just scroll by.”
— Camilla Björkman, former Svenska Spel media agency strategist
An infographic by iGaming Review illustrating a slogan from Svenska Spel.
Campaigns, Messaging, and Audience
Moderation, social responsibility, and tradition anchored messaging up to 2019: “Plötsligt händer det,” “Drömvinsten,” and “Spela lagom.”
After reform, sport/casino ads grew more targeted and digital—boosted by testimonial campaigns, influencer collaborations, and a push for mobile-first audiences.
Regulatory tightening quickly curbed bonus spending and integrated promotions.
Illustrating Sweden’s 2019 Gambling Act—Moderation, Bonuses, and Reform
Channels, Regulation, and Public Debate
With the 2019 Gambling Act, “moderation” became legally binding. New bans followed: targeting minors, bulk bonuses, and, in 2025, most credit card payments for gambling. Despite reforms, overall ad spend remained high—SEK 7.3 bn in 2018 sector-wide, with large state ad budgets persisting into the 2020s.
Private online casinos continued to flood ad channels, prompting ongoing debate on harm and market fairness.
Public Opinion and the Normalisation Debate
Surveys repeatedly showed higher trust in Svenska Spel’s responsible marketing than in private brands, yet public concern increased with the normalisation and volume of online ads. The SWELOGS study on gambling in Sweden (2008–2019) confirmed that younger Swedes were both more exposed to and skeptical of bonus-heavy, influencer-driven ads.
Transparency and Financial Flows
Up to 2018, Svenska Spel allocated SEK 1.7–2.0 bn annually to youth sports and public purposes. After 2019, about SEK 1.6 bn was distributed in 2021 to NGOs via licensees, though public debate continued over state vs. private reporting and allocation.
Sunset view of Valletta, Malta’s historic skyline and cathedral domes, symbolizing the island’s rapid rise as a global online gambling hub after 2001
Malta and the Online Disruption
Malta’s online gambling regime, introduced in 2001, rapidly drew Swedish and Nordic entrepreneurs eager for regulated, low-tax access to their home markets—especially while Sweden retained its monopoly.
Companies such as Betsson, Unibet, Mr Green, and LeoVegas built Malta-based operations initially focused on Swedish and Nordic players, then expanded EU-wide as regulations allowed.
Malta’s rapid rise forced Sweden and its neighbours to rethink how competition, market control, and consumer protection could work in a digital age.
Ultimately, this resulted in the Swedish licensing reform of 2019.
The influx of Malta-based brands was widely seen as one of the single biggest drivers in this transition, and remains a defining episode in modern European gambling history.
Nordic Paths
Denmark: Liberalised in 2012, channeling digital play to the regulated sector.
Finland: Monopoly set to end in 2026/27.
Norway: Monopoly retained as of 2025, but continued debate.
Summary
By 2025, the marketplace replaced the monopoly—not just in law, but symbolically, with the Riksdag’s decision to close all state casinos.As Sweden’s gambling landscape modernised, so too did the debate over moderation, public trust, and the very meaning of control in a digital, borderless age.
The state, once the sole orchestrator of gambling’s message, became one player among many in a contest still shaped by Nordic tradition—and continuous reform.
Further Reading & Key Sources
Svenska Spel: “Annual Report 2019”
Folkhälsomyndigheten: “Gambling and Gambling Problems in Sweden 2008–2009”
Swedish Parliament / Spelinspektionen: “Gambling Act (2018:1138)”
EXPLORE ARTICLE SERIES
How State Gambling Marketing Shaped Sweden and Scandinavia 1890 -2025
Article 4 of 4 in a series exploring ”How State Gambling Marketing Shaped Sweden and Scandinavia ”: From Monopoly to Marketplace 2001 – 2025
Four in-depth articles take you on a journey through the history of state-driven gambling marketing in Sweden—beginning with early lotteries and welfare causes in the early 20th century, when gambling quickly became a cozy and familiar part of the Swedish folkhem. Friendly state campaigns promoted betting and lotteries as staples of home, community events, and social good, weaving them into everyday routines and the national sense of belonging. The series follows the rise of the monopoly in the 1980s, the first hints of liberalization in 2004, landmark marketplace regulation in 2019, and finally the closure of Casino Cosmopol in 2025, marking the formal end of state monopoly control.
Article series
EDITORIAL REVIEW
How State Gambling Marketing Shaped Sweden and Scandinavia 1890 – 2025
