Scandinavia offers a wealth of sports to partake in and watch. Or if betting on sports in this region is your thing, check out spelbolagutansvensklicens.co. What is undoubtedly true, is the Scandinavians know how to play and win at a huge number of sports, from Olympic sports to football, to skiing and ice hockey.
Football and the Scandinavians
Unsurprisingly, one of the most popular sports in the Scandinavian region is football. This isn't abnormal, considering the popularity of the sport of football across the globe. Scandinavia is no different, with top football sides such as Copenhagen (Denmark), Molde (Norway), Häcken (Sweden) being among a wealth of others. There are a number of famous footballers hailing from the region too, including Freddie Ljungberg, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Christian Eriksen, Peter Schmeichel, and Erling Haaland.
Sweden has over 240,000 licensed football players in its midst, showing how key it is to the sporting world there. In Norway, football is also the most popular sport, with the Football Association of Norway (NFF) founded in 1902. The British introduced Denmark to the sport of football, and it has grown substantially since that time. Denmark has the single oldest football team outside of the UK(Kjøbenhavens Boldklub, founded in 1876). Today, FC Copenhagen is the highest-ranked Scandinavian club that appears in the UEFA rankings.
Scandinavian ice sports
Or if it's ice sports you love, then it's a well-known fact that ice hockey is a major sport in Scandinavia. With ice skating being almost second nature to people born and raised in Scandinavia, it is no wonder that ice-based sports are so popular. Plus, the weather across the Scandinavian region does tend to be of a slightly chillier nature, which is perfect for icy and snowy sports. There are many Scandinavian players who contend in the North American-based National Hockey League. They include Sweden's Jacob Markström (Calgary Flames), Denmark's Jannik Hansen (Vancouver Canucks), and Sweden's Alex Wennberg (Seattle Kraken). But, there's also a huge hockey league in Sweden called the SHL (Swedish Hockey League), which is just as competitive and very much watched too. In the SHL there are 14 teams, all playing in the regular season that starts at the end of September, and finishes in early March. The regular seasons consists of 52 games being played by each team. After this, the playoffs take place between March and April. The play-offs are a best-of-seven series, and the aim is to win the Le Mat Trophy. The bottom two teams in the league face each other in a best-of-seven series, with the losing team being relegated out of the SHL completely. Attendance at SHL games is huge, with it being one of the most-attended hockey leagues in the whole of Europe on a consistent basis. And, if you can't attend the games in person, you can still watch SHL games live on Swedish national television. They are also often shown in Finland and Norway, but this is for select games rather than everyone.
The highest hockey league in Norway is called the EliteHockey Ligaen. It only has 10 teams competing in it, and is not quite as competitive as the SH. However, it still has a lot of support and is high-ranking enough to have teams compete in the Champions Hockey League which sees the top European league teams face off in a tournament. Likewise, Denmark has 9 professional teams that compete in the Metal Ligaen league. This league also is ranked highly enough to participate in the Champions Hockey League.
Betting on sports in Scandinavia
Sports betting in Scandinavia is growing, just like other locations where sports betting is legal, but it is highly regulated in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. To bet on sports, you must be over the age of 18. There is an abundance of sports to bet on, as discussed above, so there is a range of options available to older or newer betters alike.
