Europe’s last remaining gambling monopolies are creeping toward their inevitable demise and not a moment too late for the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA).
This month, Finland’s incumbent Veikkaus acknowledged the prospect of significant job cuts ahead of the introduction of a multi-licensing regime, while Norway’s Conservative Party has been advocating for the dissolution of the state monopolies, Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto, as part of its latest manifesto.
Finland resolved to end the monopoly system last year, having concluded that it hadn’t been successful in reducing problem gambling, with channelisation at around just 50% to the white market.
It is expected that the new regulator will open a license-application process in the first quarter of 2026, with private operators entering the market in early 2027.
Despite this, state-owned Veikkaus will stay in the market, split into separate companies covering different verticals. As a result, up to 620 jobs are reported to be under review within the operator as it restructures to operate on a competitive footing.
Having campaigned for an end to the remaining European monopolies for years, the EGBA has unsurprisingly welcomed the intended update to the Finnish market, but it has also highlighted some perceived flaws in the proposed new regulatory system.
Responding to the Finnish government’s consultation on the proposed changes last week, EGBA secretary general Maarten Haijer noted two improvements the trade body would like to see made.
First, that affiliates should be included in the regulatory framework and social-media advertising should be approved within clear parameters. “Both are valuable tools for channelling players toward licensed operators. By implementing clear guidelines, such as mandatory safer-gambling messages, Finland can harness the power of these marketing channels, while maintaining high standards of consumer protection,” he said.
Second, the EGBA proposed that instead of banning bonuses, they should be allowed, under strict guidelines. “A nuanced approach could involve prohibiting bonuses for players showing signs of problematic behaviour or setting clear rules on when and how bonuses can be offered,” Haijer said. “This strategy would allow operators to compete more effectively with unlicensed sites that will undoubtedly use bonuses to try to entice Finnish players away from regulated websites.”
The introduction of a competitive multi-license regime is always fraught with pitfalls, as numerous European countries have learnt. Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, to name a few, have all liberalised to varying degrees of success.
The central argument in all these cases is how to remain competitive enough with the black market to achieve sufficient channelisation, while adhering to generally accepted player-safety standards. But for many of the reasons laid out in Andrew Tottenham’s characteristically erudite column this month, it is easier said than done.
While competition undoubtedly encourages best practice, the path from one extreme to the other is unlikely to be effortlessly smooth.
Norway’s first hurdle, of course, is to agree to do it at all. An iGaming Business article earlier this week seemed confident they would, implying that some sort of development would follow the country’s September 2025 election.
Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm, general secretary of Norway’s gambling trade body Norsk Bransjeforening for Onlinespill, told the publication he was “extremely optimistic this could be our time for a licensed gambling market”, predicting that the country would introduce a liberalised online-gambling sector by 2028, believing there is cross-party support for the move.
Aside from Iceland, which is also in the EGBA’s crosshairs, Norway is the final frontier in terms of European monopolies. While the country may look to liberalise, it has historically taken a particularly draconian approach to enforcing its rules. It has strict marketing limitations and goes to great lengths to block unregulated activity.
Old habits die hard, but for Norway to forge a truly competitive market in the future, some of the customs of the past may need to change radically.
