ATG, Svenska Spel and Kindred Group have joined forces and pledged to publish data about dangerous gambling behaviour among their customers.

The trio said the aim is to increase public awareness and contribute to a fact-based dialogue about what is being done to reduce gambling harm.

Four data points will be published bi-annually. The three gambling operators pledged to individually report the percentage of customers who were contacted following the detection of harmful gambling behaviours, as well as the share of customers who reduced their gambling as a result of the contact.

In addition, they will communicate how much these players reduced their gambling on average, while also stating the share of contacted customers who choose to self-exclude themselves following contact from the operators.

Kindred CEO Henrik Tjärnström commented: “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 makes other operators more inclined to follow suit.”

Kindred CEO Henrik Tjärnström: “We believe that a more fact-based and open dialogue contributes to increased trust in our industry and makes other operators more inclined to follow suit.”

According to a 2021 survey by the Swedish Public Health Agency, Swelogs, 56% of the country’s population said they had gambled for money in the past year.

The operators stressed that even though gambling is a widespread and popular source of entertainment, repeated surveys have shown that public trust in the gambling industry is low and has been now for several years.

Kindred began to publish its share of overall revenue derived from harmful gambling behaviour back in February 2021 in an attempt to provide more transparency.

However, the operator recently admitted that reaching its target of zero revenue from harmful gambling by the end of 2023 “is challenging”.

“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,” Tjärnström added.

The operators highlighted that through new research in the field of gambling addiction, gambling operators today knew more about the psychological driving forces behind problematic gambling and which interventions could effectively prevent and address harmful behaviours.

ATG, Svenska Spel Sport & Casino and Kindred account for more than half of the regulated gambling market in Sweden.

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