Svenska Spel report shows RG calls helped curb gambling harm in 37% of customers

Sweden’s Svenska Spel has found 37% of surveyed customers have reduced their overall gambling after receiving calls from its responsible gambling service.

In its Responsible Gambling Report 2022, the state-owned lottery, sports betting and casino operator stated that it made 4,540 RG calls in 2021 to those customers who were showing signs of harmful gambling.

A total of 2,373 calls were also made to customers who had only just started playing with the operator to inform them of the risks of gambling and learn about the control option the operator offers.

Of those surveyed, 16% said they have gambling-related debts, while 80% had a positive view of the RG call.

Speaking on the survey results, Katja Franklin, responsible gambling specialist at Svenska Spel, commented: “16% of respondents say they have gambling-related debts.

“That was worse than I thought. Unfortunately, this shows the strong correlation between gambling problems and over-indebtedness.”

It was also found that young players are more likely to exclude themselves from gambling following an RG call.

The exact figures have not been published yet, but Franklin discussed the findings further: “Our interpretation is that younger people don’t have such deeply engrained gambling behaviours, so it’s not as ‘tough’ for them to exclude themselves from gambling.”

Franklin also spoke about how the findings will change the firm’s future responsible gambling work. She added: “It shows that it’s valuable to target efforts at that group.

“At the same time, reaching them is a challenge; young adults are worse at answering the phone. That’s why we’re working to find more ways to reach them.”

CEO Patrick Hofbauer recently discussed the efforts being made at the operator around reducing gambling-related harm in an interview with EGR.