Sweden is one of the leaders in the gambling industry nowadays and this is because they were one of the first countries to realize just how much potential online gambling has and passed regulations to address this emerging industry. The online betting market in Sweden is growing at a huge rate thanks to the government’s monopoly on land-based gambling, and it does not look like it will slow down anytime soon. Thanks to their love of sports and gambling, the sports betting industry is thriving, and it will only continue to do so.
Sports Betting in Sweden
The Swedish love their sports and do not really mind what sport it is that they are betting on. If there is only a table tennis event, the people of Sweden will have no issue with placing some bets on it using quality bookmakers such as the ones that can be found at bettingonlinesverige.se. However, there are some sports that are more popular when it comes to betting, and these include the likes of horse racing, Formula 1, basketball, athletics, hockey, and football.
Not many people probably consider Sweden to be a footballing nation, but they are mad about the sport, with many following teams from the English Premier League. They have produced some quality players throughout the years and have always punched above their weight on the world stage. For example, they reached the last eight of the FIFA World Cup in Russia in 2018 and they were unlucky to reach the last eight of Euro 2020.
Plenty of Sponsors for the Team
When you realize just how popular football is in Sweden and the fact that they rarely let their country down when it comes to international football tournaments, it will come as no great surprise to find out that there were plenty of companies that were willing to sponsor them during Euro 2020. Below you can find a list of the main sponsors, just so you can get a good idea as to how many they had:
- Adidas
- Bauhaus
- Coca-Cola (much to the disgust of Cristiano Ronaldo)
- Folksam
- ICA
- NeH
- Scandic
- Sportbladet
- Svenska Spel
- Swedbank
- Volvo
It Is Not Just Teams That Get Sponsored
Players can be sponsored by big companies as well as this is how many players make a lot more extra money. For example, Nike sponsors Ronaldo, and he makes an extra $20 million a year thanks to the deal that he has with them. Above we mentioned that Sweden has produced some great players over the years, and one of their best ones has got to be Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Ibrahimovic has played for some of the biggest teams in the world such as Juventus, Inter Milan, Milan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-German, and Manchester United. He has also represented his country on 118 occasions and has 62 goals to his name. In his prime, he was one of the best players in the world, and he certainly will not have any difficulties telling you that himself. At the age of 39, he is still banging in the goals for Milan.
Due to how good he is and the high profile that he has, it will not be a surprise to find out that many big companies want to sponsor him. He has been the brand ambassador of Bethard since 2018 and will have raked in a lot of extra money for being so. However, this partnership has got him into plenty of trouble with the football governing bodies. UEFA and FIFA regulations state that players who have a financial interest with any gambling company cannot compete at international tournaments, which is not much of an issue for Ibrahimovic as he has retired from international duty. However, another punishment could be a three-year football ban, which would certainly close the curtains on his fantastic football career.
Betting Companies Sponsoring Teams
So, as we have shown, there are plenty of big companies that were sponsoring Sweden in one way or another at the Euro 2020 Championship, but there is one company that we would like to focus on and that is Svenska Spel. This is a Swedish gambling agency that used to have a monopoly on all things gambling-related in Sweden. So, why exactly do we want to give our attention to these and not the other sponsors? Well, it is because there is plenty of debate now as to whether any type of gambling company should be permitted to advertise in sport.
There have been many campaigns to block gambling companies from being allowed to sponsor teams, so we decided that we would have a look at some of the pros and cons of preventing gambling advertising at any sporting event.
Pros:
A reduction in gambling consumption: There are a number of countries out there that have introduced gambling advertising restrictions in sport. Since gambling adverts obviously help to increase the number of people that get into gambling, laws that outlaw it will have an impact on the public. In fact, betting sponsorship in sports such as rugby, cricket, and football continues to rise as gambling companies are aware that this is a great way for them to reach out to their target audience. In partnerships with betting companies and football clubs, their names can be seen on the shorts and t-shirt that the players have on, which seduces and tempts their fans. By putting a ban on gambling advertisements, the government can significantly lower the issue of problem gambling.
Minors will be more protected: There have been many different campaigns to block gambling advertisements in sport in order to protect children from being too exposed to online gambling. Many children all over the world watch football matches, so if they come across plenty of adverts for gambling, they will be interested in trying out for themselves, leading to a rise in gambling addiction in children. By banning sports betting adverts, the governments can protect the most valuable people in society from problem gambling.
Cons:
Teams can suffer financially: In popular sporting events such as football, being sponsored by a gambling company is really important for many clubs as this is one of the ways that they get money in order to stay afloat. Football teams all over are already suffering financial issues because of the current pandemic, so if being sponsored by a betting company was banned, they would end up losing even more money. While the bigger teams could cope with such a decision, the smaller teams might find it a lot more difficult to stay afloat and could end up going into administration.
Plenty of jobs lost: Gambling is something that brings in plenty of money for the government and it is also responsible for giving jobs to a large number of people worldwide. If a gambling advertisement ban came into being, the future of the said gambling companies would be a bit of a mystery. However, there is something that we can be certain of and this is that many gambling companies will have to close down, leading to a lot of lost jobs.
Where exactly do we stand on this matter? Well, we actually can see the view of both camps – those who want it banned and those who do not. We believe that some type of compromise should be made so that everyone in both camps is somewhat content. It is never possible to make everyone happy, but something should be done to ensure that the majority are happy.
