Kindred and Cherry among top Swedish advertisers in Q3 2019
Several operators drop out of top 20 following warnings over excessive advertising
Four Swedish licensed gambling firms were again among the top ten advertisers in Sweden in Q3, according to figures released by Swedish advertising consultancy firm Kantar Sifo.
Kindred Group, Cherry and ATG were in the top ten, with Kindred named Sweden’s top gambling advertiser (and third overall), spending SEK227m (£18.6m) during the period Q3 2019, although this figure was down almost SEK20m from the same period in 2018.
Cherry was the second-biggest gambling spender on advertising during Q3, spending SEK150m (£12.3m) on gambling ads during the period.
However, the firm also made the biggest reduction in its advertising, spending SEK319m less on its gambling ads than it had done during the same period in 2018.
ATG continued its ascent in the advertising charts, becoming the seventh-largest advertiser in Sweden, spending SEK111m (£9.1m) during Q3. The former monopoly operator increased its spending on advertising by SEK26m on the same period in 2018.
Fellow native firm Svenska Spel spent SEK104m (£8.5m) on advertising in Sweden during Q3 2019, a SEK26m reduction on its advertising spend during the same period of 2018.
LeoVegas lost its place in the top 20, only spending SEK40m (£3.2m) on gambling advertising in Sweden during Q3, while Hero Gaming spent just SEK29m (£2.3m) on advertising during the same period.
Online operators Mr Green and Betsson spent SEK23m (£1.8m) and SEK21m (£1.7m) respectively on advertising in Sweden during Q3 2019. In the case of Betsson, this advertising spend was down SEK23m on the amount spent on advertising during the same period of 2018.
In March, Swedish minister of civil affairs Ardalan Sherakabi called on gambling operators to reduce their advertising after complaints concerning excessive advertising following the regulation of the Swedish market.
Sherakabi called on Swedish gambling firms to observe moderation in their advertising practices or face stricter regulation on gambling advertising.
Aspire Global was hit with a lawsuit this week after the Swedish consumer watchdog claimed its advertising had not been moderate. Aspire said the case was a way for the Swedish authorities to get a court’s definition of what constituted “moderate”.