Abstract
The aim of the essay is to describe the establishment of football pools in Sweden during the 1920s and 1930s and how this – unexpectedly – contributed to the breakthrough of sports within the framework of Swedish welfare politics. The essay begins with a short historical background. It continues with an account of the illegal pool industry which arose in Sweden in the 1920s followed by the forming of the government‐controlled gambling company Tipstjänst in 1934. After an analysis of the short‐ and long‐term importance of pools to Swedish sports, the effects the development in Sweden had on the sports policies of the other Scandinavian countries will be discussed. The essay concludes with a discussion of the link between the Swedish sports movement and the gambling market in modern times. The fact is that the gambling policy problems current in the inter‐war period have emerged in a new form – with uncertain consequences to Swedish sports’ future economy and relation to the government.
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