Set to commence on January 1st 2020, the 12-year agreement is valued at SEK1.8bn (€172m) and sees Unibet replace state-owned operator Svenska Spel as lead sponsor of the leagues.
The partnership was agreed with the Swedish Elite Football Association (Svensk Elitfotboll), and runs through to 2026 with an option to extend the agreement for an additional six years.
“We have only good things to say about co-operation over the years together with Svenska Spel and we are very grateful for all that Svenska Spel has done for elite football,” said Mats Enquist, secretary general of Svensk Elitfotboll. “We are also looking forward to completing the current contract period in the best way together.
“When Svenska Spel chose not to renew the agreement on acceptable terms, we had to look around at the market. We are excited that we could find this solution with Unibet and we are looking forward to the joint cooperation.”
Kindred Group general manager for Sweden, Dersim Sylwan, commented: “We are very proud to have made this historic agreement with Svensk Elitfotboll. The deal includes a significant long-term commitment to Swedish sports, an opportunity we have been fighting for during the last 20 years. We are very pleased to announce the partnership and we look forward to contributing to the development of Swedish football.”
The sponsorship agreement will see SEK150m distributed annually to Svensk Elitfotboll, with SEK100m allocated to Allsvenskan and Superettan clubs, SEK25m to talent development and integrity work, and a further SEK20m to clubs based on the wishes of Unibet customers. A further SEK5m has been earmarked for a special initiative focused on European tournaments.
“Our new agreement with Svensk Elitfotboll will give the association substantially more income compared to previous partnership deals,” added Sylwan. “The new gaming licence will finally make it possible for Swedish sports to gain market value for their partnerships, which is positive for the clubs, the associations and of course for the athletes.”
Svensk Elitfotboll chairman Lars-Christer Olsson added: “In Kindred Group, Svensk Elitfotboll sees a new serious partner who, together with us, can take responsibility for the healthy development of games in our leagues while supporting elite football development in Sweden.”
Showing posts with label Svenska Spel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Svenska Spel. Show all posts
June 30, 2018
February 22, 2013
Svenska Spel closes 14 accounts involved in cheating allegations
Svenska Spel is taking the serious measure of locking 14 poker accounts after details of an alleged bot-based cheating conspiracy happened involving the said accounts. According to Swedish national operator, the suspended accounts carried over $108,000 and have won over $1.8 million in the past year.
The investigation began after a player report a few months ago and suspicious practices were discovered involving what the poker site suspected as poker bots. Since then, the state-owned Svenska Spel reported the matter to the Swedish police and has also found its way to the Swedish Gaming Board.
Svenska Spel representatives on its player forum posted that the poker bots, which are illegal computer systems that mechanizes online poker play, made their living playing in Hold’Em games ranging from NL50 to NL500 and taken most of their winnings in the past six months.
As one of the few authorized gambling providers in Sweden and the only one licensed to offer online poker, Svenska Spel is the only place where Swedish players can play online poker in the country. Ultimately, this falls on the company itself who admitted that it had known of the matter beforehand and failed to report it to the proper authorities. They’re stopping short of revealing the screen names of those responsible while investigations are still underway, but this does paint a pretty unflattering picture of the state-owned operator who will now have to carry the burden of having its GTECH G2 software-run online poker room tainted by cheats.
To be fair, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened to an online poker room. Even PokerStars had to deal with its own cheating scandal a few years ago involving collusion among Chinese players who pilfered more than $2 million from over 25,000 players. So Svenska Spel can take comfort knowing they’re not the first. But it still paints a negative picture if you’re in that list.
More details are expected to be revealed as the investigation progresses. It’ll be interesting to see where this case goes from here.
The investigation began after a player report a few months ago and suspicious practices were discovered involving what the poker site suspected as poker bots. Since then, the state-owned Svenska Spel reported the matter to the Swedish police and has also found its way to the Swedish Gaming Board.
Svenska Spel representatives on its player forum posted that the poker bots, which are illegal computer systems that mechanizes online poker play, made their living playing in Hold’Em games ranging from NL50 to NL500 and taken most of their winnings in the past six months.
As one of the few authorized gambling providers in Sweden and the only one licensed to offer online poker, Svenska Spel is the only place where Swedish players can play online poker in the country. Ultimately, this falls on the company itself who admitted that it had known of the matter beforehand and failed to report it to the proper authorities. They’re stopping short of revealing the screen names of those responsible while investigations are still underway, but this does paint a pretty unflattering picture of the state-owned operator who will now have to carry the burden of having its GTECH G2 software-run online poker room tainted by cheats.
To be fair, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened to an online poker room. Even PokerStars had to deal with its own cheating scandal a few years ago involving collusion among Chinese players who pilfered more than $2 million from over 25,000 players. So Svenska Spel can take comfort knowing they’re not the first. But it still paints a negative picture if you’re in that list.
More details are expected to be revealed as the investigation progresses. It’ll be interesting to see where this case goes from here.
December 11, 2009
Svenska Spel ups minimum gambling age & support funding
Sweden's Svenska Spel is looking to raise the bar on responsible gambling by increasing the national minimum age for lottery ticket sales in Sweden to 18 years, as well as increasing its investment in problem gambling support.
Coming into effect in 2010, the new age limit for lottery tickets means that all of Svenska Spel's products across all sales channels will have a minimum age limit of at least eighteen years old.
"Corporate social responsibility is an important cornerstone of Svenska Spel’s business," said Meta Persdotter, CEO of Svenska Spel. "Our ambition is to minimise underage gambling wherever it may occur. To do so we must also be clear and consistent in our view of gaming and age limits, particularly towards our business partners and customers."
Svenska Spel currently has a minimum age limit of 18 years for Oddset games as well as SvenskaSpel.se and Vegas gaming machines, while players at Casino Cosmopol must be a minimum of 20 years old.
The company said that the minimum age limit would make both handling and age verification in retail outlets much easier.
"For some time, we have conducted a dialogue with representatives of the service and convenience goods trade, and this decision is in line with the industry’s own demands for a uniform age limit and that the handling of games and lotteries follow the rules that apply for other goods with age limits," said Håkan Sjöstrand, Business Area Manager at Svenska Spel.
Sjöstrand said that the decision would also offer possibilities for additional associations to sell lottery tickets, with the company investing more resources on the development of subscription and Internet partner services, as well as the sale of game and lottery tickets.
"Associations and clubs that can handle the age check of games and lotteries in accordance with current rules can continue to sell our products," confirmed Sjöstrand.
Svenska Spel currently has approximately 6,800 representatives selling Svenska Spel’s lottery tickets, as well as cooperation agreements with approximately 3,000 associations in Sweden selling Triss lottery tickets, amongst others.
"This decision is positive for two reasons – on one hand, shop employees need not think about different age limits for different products, and on the other, it signals a shared view that all gambling can potentially lead to problems and that there should therefore also be an age limit on lottery tickets," said Bengt Hedlund, President of the trade association, Svensk Servicehandel & Fast Food.
The company has also pledged to invest SEK3 million in order to ensure the continuation of support for problem gamblers.
The investment will mean that two programs in the country, a 24 hour gambling helpline and an internet based self help program, will continue to support problem gamblers in 2010.
The company said however that as a gaming operator, it was not its task to directly finance the treatment of people with gambling problems and urged the government to make a clear distinction between the preventative measures which fall under the remit of gaming operators and the treatment of problem gamblers by the authorities.
"It feels good to be able to save two well functioning projects under a transition period until the authorities have decided who should fund them," said Margareta Winberg, Chair of Svenska Spel.
"Today it is not our task to finance the treatment of people with gambling problems, but on the other hand, we must prioritise the consideration of social protection."
Ms. Winberg said there was need for a clear demarcation between what is preventive measures and what is care and treatment of gambling addiction, and where the responsibility lies between different authorities versus Svenska Spel as a gambling company.
Coming into effect in 2010, the new age limit for lottery tickets means that all of Svenska Spel's products across all sales channels will have a minimum age limit of at least eighteen years old.
"Corporate social responsibility is an important cornerstone of Svenska Spel’s business," said Meta Persdotter, CEO of Svenska Spel. "Our ambition is to minimise underage gambling wherever it may occur. To do so we must also be clear and consistent in our view of gaming and age limits, particularly towards our business partners and customers."
Svenska Spel currently has a minimum age limit of 18 years for Oddset games as well as SvenskaSpel.se and Vegas gaming machines, while players at Casino Cosmopol must be a minimum of 20 years old.
The company said that the minimum age limit would make both handling and age verification in retail outlets much easier.
"For some time, we have conducted a dialogue with representatives of the service and convenience goods trade, and this decision is in line with the industry’s own demands for a uniform age limit and that the handling of games and lotteries follow the rules that apply for other goods with age limits," said Håkan Sjöstrand, Business Area Manager at Svenska Spel.
Sjöstrand said that the decision would also offer possibilities for additional associations to sell lottery tickets, with the company investing more resources on the development of subscription and Internet partner services, as well as the sale of game and lottery tickets.
"Associations and clubs that can handle the age check of games and lotteries in accordance with current rules can continue to sell our products," confirmed Sjöstrand.
Svenska Spel currently has approximately 6,800 representatives selling Svenska Spel’s lottery tickets, as well as cooperation agreements with approximately 3,000 associations in Sweden selling Triss lottery tickets, amongst others.
"This decision is positive for two reasons – on one hand, shop employees need not think about different age limits for different products, and on the other, it signals a shared view that all gambling can potentially lead to problems and that there should therefore also be an age limit on lottery tickets," said Bengt Hedlund, President of the trade association, Svensk Servicehandel & Fast Food.
The company has also pledged to invest SEK3 million in order to ensure the continuation of support for problem gamblers.
The investment will mean that two programs in the country, a 24 hour gambling helpline and an internet based self help program, will continue to support problem gamblers in 2010.
The company said however that as a gaming operator, it was not its task to directly finance the treatment of people with gambling problems and urged the government to make a clear distinction between the preventative measures which fall under the remit of gaming operators and the treatment of problem gamblers by the authorities.
"It feels good to be able to save two well functioning projects under a transition period until the authorities have decided who should fund them," said Margareta Winberg, Chair of Svenska Spel.
"Today it is not our task to finance the treatment of people with gambling problems, but on the other hand, we must prioritise the consideration of social protection."
Ms. Winberg said there was need for a clear demarcation between what is preventive measures and what is care and treatment of gambling addiction, and where the responsibility lies between different authorities versus Svenska Spel as a gambling company.
August 15, 2008
Svenska Spel criticised as marketing spend rises 16%
Critics have slammed Swedish monopoly Svenska Spel after it not only failed to live up to its pledge to decrease advertising in its homeland, but actually increased its marketing spend during the second quarter of the year. Company results showed that marketing costs increased 16% compared to the first quarter of the year.
Johan Pehrson, leader of Sweden's Liberal Party, said the increase would make Sweden's current monopoly arrangements difficult to justify to the European Union and that Svenska Spel could not call itself the protector of social ideals while actively targeting new customers.
"We have been giving a very clear signal to Svenska Spel to slow down on how much they act aggressively with advertising and marketing," said Pehrson. "Today though you can see with cold figures that they actually have been pushing up the amount of advertising they do. I think it is problematic."
Anders Wiklund, leisure analyst at Evli Bank, said he was not surprised by the negative reaction. He said: "I would say that it seems definitely a bit strange when the new message Svenska Spel gave in the spring was that it was going to focus on public safety, yet still the marketing figures are up quite a lot."
But Svenska Spel hit back at its critics and said its increases were small in comparison with its competitors. Head of communications Andreas Jansson commented: "We didn't say that we would decrease but that we would try to decrease. But that also depends on what our competitors choose to do.
"If we were to decrease our media spend now, it would mean that we give up market share to the non-regulated companies and we don't want to do that because our responsible gaming programme is a lot better than theirs, if they even have any."
Jansson claimed the majority of the additional advertising was focused on responsible gaming, though he conceded Euro 2008 had also played a part.
Johan Pehrson, leader of Sweden's Liberal Party, said the increase would make Sweden's current monopoly arrangements difficult to justify to the European Union and that Svenska Spel could not call itself the protector of social ideals while actively targeting new customers.
"We have been giving a very clear signal to Svenska Spel to slow down on how much they act aggressively with advertising and marketing," said Pehrson. "Today though you can see with cold figures that they actually have been pushing up the amount of advertising they do. I think it is problematic."
Anders Wiklund, leisure analyst at Evli Bank, said he was not surprised by the negative reaction. He said: "I would say that it seems definitely a bit strange when the new message Svenska Spel gave in the spring was that it was going to focus on public safety, yet still the marketing figures are up quite a lot."
But Svenska Spel hit back at its critics and said its increases were small in comparison with its competitors. Head of communications Andreas Jansson commented: "We didn't say that we would decrease but that we would try to decrease. But that also depends on what our competitors choose to do.
"If we were to decrease our media spend now, it would mean that we give up market share to the non-regulated companies and we don't want to do that because our responsible gaming programme is a lot better than theirs, if they even have any."
Jansson claimed the majority of the additional advertising was focused on responsible gaming, though he conceded Euro 2008 had also played a part.
May 23, 2008
Sweden stalls as Svenska Spel sell-off discussed
Petter Nylander, chief executive of Unibet, has described the news of a partial privatisation of the Swedish gaming monopoly Svenska Spel as a strategy by the Swedish government to make sure it is not asked to appear in front the European Court of Justice.
Sweden is currently subject to reasoned opinions from the European Commission and Nylander said the pressure from the European authorities was starting to show.
“The legal advice to the Swedish Ministry of Finance is that the country is very close to breaking EU rules on the provision of cross-border services and is getting closer to being asked to appear in front of the European Court of Justice. The first investigation into gambling was cancelled and the latest gaming inquiry is due to submit its findings in mid-December,” Nylander said.
Reports in the Swedish media appeared yesterday suggesting that games that are considered less likely to lead to gambling addiction might be sold off. However, Nylander said the inquiry commission had still not defined what those games were. “They originally included lottery games and are now looking at including sports betting and poker (as being low risk), which Svenska Spel has been very successful at recently. Overall though, they have not truly defined what they consider to be harmful or not,” he said.
Nylander added that market forces were dictating the pace of change in the European online gaming space, which when added to the regulatory pressure brought on by the European Commission, was forcing protectionist countries such as Sweden to adopt a range of measures that were ill-conceived.
The Swedish Minister for Finance Anders Borg recently commented that the question to consider was whether Svenska Spel should continue to operate less harmful games or if other operators should be allowed to offer them to players.
The news follows a report published in early May by the Swedish Moderate Party’s Culture Committee that said the Svenska Spel monopoly should be abolished. A licensing system for online operators would raise enough revenue to make up for any loss of income brought on by the end of the monopoly, the report said.
Sweden is currently subject to reasoned opinions from the European Commission and Nylander said the pressure from the European authorities was starting to show.
“The legal advice to the Swedish Ministry of Finance is that the country is very close to breaking EU rules on the provision of cross-border services and is getting closer to being asked to appear in front of the European Court of Justice. The first investigation into gambling was cancelled and the latest gaming inquiry is due to submit its findings in mid-December,” Nylander said.
Reports in the Swedish media appeared yesterday suggesting that games that are considered less likely to lead to gambling addiction might be sold off. However, Nylander said the inquiry commission had still not defined what those games were. “They originally included lottery games and are now looking at including sports betting and poker (as being low risk), which Svenska Spel has been very successful at recently. Overall though, they have not truly defined what they consider to be harmful or not,” he said.
Nylander added that market forces were dictating the pace of change in the European online gaming space, which when added to the regulatory pressure brought on by the European Commission, was forcing protectionist countries such as Sweden to adopt a range of measures that were ill-conceived.
The Swedish Minister for Finance Anders Borg recently commented that the question to consider was whether Svenska Spel should continue to operate less harmful games or if other operators should be allowed to offer them to players.
The news follows a report published in early May by the Swedish Moderate Party’s Culture Committee that said the Svenska Spel monopoly should be abolished. A licensing system for online operators would raise enough revenue to make up for any loss of income brought on by the end of the monopoly, the report said.
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