No matter how popular IKEA or Spotify are around the world, most people will still picture beautiful blonde women and the legendary Zlatan Ibrahimovic when thinking about Sweden. However, if you ask any sports betting enthusiasts, they will probably start with Zlatan and continue telling you about how appealing the Swedish online betting landscape is. The Scandinavian nation is one of the leaders when it comes to iGaming. Many betting companies, software providers and Fintech unicorns call Sweden home. And with a wealthy population and a very high standard of living, it is normal for Swedes to enjoy sports betting.
As previously mentioned, the sports betting phenomenon enjoys increased popularity among Swedes. Recent reports from the Spelinspektionen – Sweden’s regulatory body – show that the overall gambling market was valued at over €2.1 billion. Sports betting is accounting for over 52% of the overall total so you can imagine that Swedish online bookmakers are the place to be right now. Also, horse racing, at the moment still under state monopoly, is also very popular among punters.
With so much interest shown by online bookmakers from all around the world towards the local market, the Swedish Gaming Act was passed and went into effect in January 2019. Despite some conditions that can be considered as harsh by many bookmakers, the number of businesses applying for a license was far greater than expected.
Since we mentioned the Gambling Act that regulates the Swedish online gaming landscape, let’s check out some of its most important details. If you already have some betting experience and you’ve used online bookies licensed by the UKGC, you’ll find some regulations to be already familiar. However, there are some claiming the Spelinspektionen is even more strict than the United Kingdom Gambling Commission when it comes to player protection, allowed bonuses and even the applied tax if the UKGC doesn’t raise it to 21% this fall.
Swedish online sportsbooks that want to apply for a license need to pay a €65,000 fee along with the application, every 5 years when the license is renewed. There’s only one type of license that regulates both online betting and land-based operations and the tax applied is 18% on the Gross Gaming Revenue.
Another important aspect that all punters should be aware of is that playing at unlicensed bookies will not attract any legal consequences. However, some taxes may be applied to your winnings if you do so. Also, the Swedish authorities are determined to limit access to unlicensed bookies and block their sites or financial transactions towards them. However, we must underline that the Sweden gaming legislation does not imply any kind of actions taken against punters.
Although the new Gambling Law has been in effect for only half a year now, there are already 69 gambling companies that were given a license by Spelinspektionen and the list of applicants is continuously growing. All this attention towards the Swedish market is obviously positive for punters as competition makes the odds higher and improves overall services. So, you have all the reasons to be excited about supporting your favorite teams and enjoying sports betting at the highest level.
We’re down to the most important part of this article. The list with all the best Swedish bookmakers is the only source you need to make sure you’re betting with complete safety, on a licensed sportsbook. Our betting experts, most of them seasoned veterans, have meticulously checked every bookie on this list before giving it the green light. Critical aspects such as the quality of odds, bonuses offered, wagering requirements or payout ratios were taken into consideration to separate the top Swedish sportsbooks from the rest. Even though the Spelinspektionen grants the license, they’re not concerned about how high the odds are, what bookmaker bonuses are available or how many betting markets the bookies offer. That’s why an extra filter on the licensed sportsbooks is always welcome as that’s the only way to make sure you don’t waste any time.
So, feel free to go through our best online betting in Sweden proposals and find one that feels like a proper fit. We’re always updating the list and checking all the newcomers to see if they are worthy of getting their names here.
It’s kind of difficult to mention any pros for bookmakers that are not licensed in Sweden. Since the top tier ones already applied for a license, there’s no real need to be looking at unlicensed ones.
Among the cons for using unlicensed bookmakers, we have the difficult to access them because of the ISP blocks. Also, the possibility to get taxed on your winnings makes the effort of playing at unlicensed betting sites in Sweden too much.
As mentioned in the intro, not only is Sweden the home of a lot of top online betting companies, but revolutionary payment methods have started here as well. The pallet of Swedish betting payment methods is extremely generous. Basically, all the international deposit and withdrawal options are accessible by Swedish punters. Local payment options such as Trustly, Zimpler or Nordea are top favorites for the bulletproof safety features and instant processing times. The lack of fees and equally-fast payouts are other qualities that make the local payment methods, especially Trustly, top choices for Swedes.
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