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 Tipstjnst 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.