Kindred showcases its commitment to responsible gambling during the Safer Gambling Week. During the European Safer Gambling Week 2023 (13th-19th November), Kindred pushed stakeholder collaboration in Sweden, arranging two workshops on responsible gambling with a broad group of stakeholders. The company also participated in a responsible gambling seminar and hosted a start-up meeting for a match-fixing project headed by the Swedish Gambling Authority.
The European Safer Gambling Week was a busy time for Kindred’s Swedish team, continuing local outreach efforts following a successful RG roundtable discussion at the Almedalen political week earlier this year. During Safer Gambling Week, Kindred and the treatment centre Spelfriheten invited influential stakeholders to a follow-up session at the Kindred Stockholm office. The week coincided with the Swedish regulator’s bi-annual responsible gambling forum for public agencies and organisations, where Kindred and Spelfriheten had the honour to contribute by leading a workshop session.
Both workshops explored possible collaboration on specific responsible gambling issues and the general interest in stakeholder collaboration.
The Swedish Gambling Authority’s office session focused on topics close to the regulator and public sector, such as responsible gambling information and education, access to treatment funds and safeguarding the personal data of the national self-exclusion register.
The second workshop session, hosted by Kindred’s Swedish GM Philip Lagström at Kindreds’s office in Stockholm, saw about 25 participants from various industries (gambling, payments, media and sports), responsible gambling researchers, treatment centres and members of parliament. This session had a broader scope, adding responsible gambling information in digital marketing and self-regulation within payment provisions.
The discussions were highly productive, with an overwhelmingly positive response from nearly all participants. Here are some key takeaways:
- The Swedish Gambling Authority has expressed interest in continuing the discussions initiated during their workshop
- The issue of personal data leakage from the self-exclusion register raised significant concern
- The vast majority of participants expressed a desire to establish a standing, responsible gambling stakeholder forum
- In addition, several more specific issues will be further explored
As a result of Kindred Group’s efforts to be a responsible gambling operator supporting the local license system, Kindred was invited as an expert in a Swedish Gambling Authority-led pre-study on establishing a national platform against match-fixing. The first project meeting was held during European Safer Gambling Week at Kindred’s Stockholm office.
The trade association BOS arranged a seminar on public trust and opinion of the gambling industry and gambling marketing following the release of a new study by pollster company Novus. Philip Lagström, General Manager for Sweden, represented Kindred Group and the industry in a panel discussion, delivering some serious myth-busting on the many erroneous conceptions of the industry.
