Background: Sweden’s 2019 Gambling Act opened the previously state-run gambling market to private operators through a licensing system. This shift created new challenges for companies to show social responsibility while competing for market share. As gambling is linked to public health risks like addiction, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a key issue for both regulators and operators.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine how two different gambling companies, Svenska Spel, a state-owned operator, and Unibet, a private international company, integrate CSR into their operations and marketing. The study compares their approaches to understand whether CSR is used mainly to meet legal requirements or as a genuine ethical and strategic effort.

Method: This research uses a qualitative case study approach based on Carroll’s CSR Pyramid and Stakeholder Theory. Data was collected through 43 secondary sources (e.g., annual reports, official documents, and press releases) and two semi-structured interviews with CSR representatives from each company. An abductive analysis was used to identify themes and compare company strategies.

Conclusion: The findings show that while both companies follow the legal CSR requirements under Swedish law, their deeper strategies differ. Svenska Spel focuses on transparency, harm prevention, and collaboration, which reflects its public ownership and social mission. Unibet also promotes responsible gambling but uses CSR more as part of its brand positioning and competitive strategy. Overall, CSR in the regulated gambling industry functions both as a legal obligation and as a way for companies to build legitimacy with stakeholders.