There has been a lot of discussion over the past year about breaking Finland’s gambling monopoly. Even key personnel at Veikkaus, who currently runs the Finnish gambling monopoly, have said they are ready to give up the monopoly and move to a license-based gambling market. The Finnish government has also stated that it is likely that Finland will move to a similar gambling market that already exists in Sweden and Denmark.

Finland Must Avoid Sweden’s Mistakes

The new Finnish gambling law is said to come into effect at the beginning of 2026. Sweden made a similar change at the beginning of 2019, and we believe that Finland can learn a lot from Sweden about how their market has developed.

Although the Swedish market has started quite well, with over 100 licensed casinos, there are many things that could be improved. For example, in Sweden there is a restriction of one casino bonus per player and per casino. This means that a bonus can only be received upon registration, and no reload bonuses or loyalty programs are available. This worked initially, but after a few years the channeling rate dropped as a large number of players moved to unlicensed casinos to find bonuses. The channeling rate is the proportion of players who play at licensed casinos compared to those who play at unlicensed casinos.

This is just one example of things that the Finnish licensing system can learn from Sweden. On this site, we will be analyzing how the Finnish gambling market can become as good as possible and get Finnish players to play at licensed casinos. We also regularly update this site with the latest news in the gambling industry.

Opportunities and Challenges in the Finnish Gambling Market

Moving to a licensed market has many positive aspects. It brings free competition between Finnish casinos, which forces them to improve their services and be better than their competitors. Because many Finns currently play at unlicensed casinos, they are not protected by Finnish law, which can lead to problems. The best casinos will obtain a Finnish license, which guarantees that players have access to help if needed.

In addition, the Finnish state will receive tax revenue from licensed casinos, which is a much better alternative to sending money abroad. However, to collect tax revenue, Finland needs to ensure that the majority of Finns play at licensed casinos. In Sweden, the channeling rate was close to 90% for a long time, but in recent years it has dropped to just over 70%. The lack of bonuses has been the most significant reason why players have switched to unlicensed casinos. Therefore, we hope that Finland will not make the same mistake as Sweden and offer more than one bonus per player.

In Denmark, the channeling rate has risen from over 70% in 2012 to over 90% in 2020. One of the reasons for Denmark’s success has been the hard work to block illegal online casinos that target Danish players. While Finland should do the same, it is not enough on its own. Licensed casinos simply need to offer a better gaming experience than unlicensed casinos, and for this, they need a fair framework that guarantees player safety while also enabling Finnish casinos to compete in the international market.

What is a Finnish Gambling License?

A Finnish gambling license is a permit that gaming companies must obtain in order to offer games to Finnish players. Currently, Finland has a gambling monopoly, which is controlled by Veikkaus. However, the plan is to dismantle the gambling monopoly at the beginning of 2026, when Finland is expected to move to a licensed gambling market.

What Does a Finnish Gambling License Mean?

It is still unclear what the Finnish gambling license will look like. We expect to receive more information about it in 2024 or 2025, when the government starts working on it. It is likely that a regulatory body will be established that will cooperate with the Finnish government in shaping the Finnish gambling market. This regulatory body will then be responsible for issuing gambling licenses to gaming companies and ensuring that they comply with Finnish gambling legislation.

If we look at similar models that already exist in Sweden and Denmark, for example, gaming companies can apply for a license if they meet the requirements set by the Finnish gambling authority. These requirements could include, for example, a requirement that they have a representative in Finland, even if they have their headquarters abroad. These companies may not necessarily be Finnish companies, as many gaming companies nowadays have their headquarters in Malta. Another requirement could be that casinos join a player register that allows Finnish players to exclude themselves from all Finnish casinos.

Gaming companies that are licensed in Finland will have to pay licensing fees to Finland and be obliged to pay taxes. This largely compensates for the tax revenue that the Finnish state currently receives from Veikkaus. Today, over 50% of Finns play at unlicensed casinos, which means that both player money and potential tax revenue go to other countries.

We expect the Finnish license to be valid for at least 5 years at a time, as has been done in Sweden with certain exceptions.

Other Restrictions Affecting Finnish Casinos and Betting Sites

There are several differences between the Swedish gambling market and other license-based markets. One of the most talked-about differences is that Swedish gaming companies are only allowed to offer one bonus per license and per player. This has led to Swedish casinos currently only offering a welcome bonus – reload bonuses, reload bonuses, or loyalty programs are not available. We hope that Finland will not implement a similar law, as it has been one of the most significant reasons why Swedish players have switched to unlicensed casinos. We hope that Finland will find better solutions to avoid this.

Swedish casinos do not have any restrictions on how much you can play, and we do not believe that the Finnish gambling market will set such rules. However, there are gaming companies that have been very proactive in this area, and we believe that Finnish-licensed casinos will do the same. This could be, for example, a loss limit for young players, as they are at a higher risk of developing gambling addiction.

Another thing in Sweden that we believe could also be implemented in Finland is the so-called 3-second rule. According to this rule, casino games or online slots cannot have a faster delay than three seconds between game rounds. The reason for this is that a fast game speed has been shown to increase the risk of problem gambling. It can be a negative thing for those players who enjoy a fast game speed, but we believe it’s a good rule.

It is also interesting to see whether Finland will allow bonus purchases. This is a feature that was introduced in online slots a few years ago, and it allows a player to purchase a bonus game, often for a 100x stake or more. For example, the UK and the Netherlands prohibit the offering of bonus purchases in slots in their markets. The reason for this is that bonus purchases are seen as being able to tempt players to play for larger sums or stakes than they originally intended.

In addition, it is possible that the following restrictions will be introduced in Finland:

These are just some examples of possible restrictions that may be introduced in Finland. The final decisions will be made by the Finnish government.

Which Companies Will Apply for a Finnish Gambling License?

It is not yet known which casinos will obtain a Finnish gambling license. It is likely that many of them are already popular in the Finnish market, such as Slotti Kasino or Supercasino. We expect it to be fairly easy for gaming companies to apply for a Finnish gambling license, so Finns can certainly play at many of their favorite casinos in the future as well. Smaller gaming companies, on the other hand, will find it difficult to decide whether to start competing in the Finnish market. Licensing fees are likely to be tens of thousands of euros, which is not profitable for smaller online casinos.

Do Game Providers Need a Finnish Gambling License?

Looking at the Swedish gambling market, game providers and other software companies did not need a license for a long time. However, this changed in the summer of 2023, when a license became mandatory. This meant that game providers had to obtain a license to be able to offer their games to Swedish casinos. We believe that something similar will be implemented in the Finnish gambling market as well, but perhaps not immediately.

From a player’s perspective, this did not affect the gaming experience very much, as most popular game providers obtained a license, which was not particularly expensive or difficult to obtain. So you can be sure that you will also see all the popular game providers on Finnish licensed casinos, such as NetEnt, Evolution Gaming and Games Global.

What Games Will Be Available at Finnish Licensed Casinos?

If everything goes according to plan, you can enjoy a much wider range of games at Finnish licensed casinos than what Veikkaus offers. The casinos with the largest game selection offer over 3,000 online slot machines, as well as live casino games, which have become very popular in recent years.

Live casino gameshows are a subcategory that may be restricted to some extent. The reason for this is that many of them are inspired by different game categories, such as bingo and board games, for which we are not yet sure whether they fall under the Finnish online casino gambling law. However, we hope that the law will also allow the offering of games from bingo and lottery sites.

Will Veikkaus Get a Finnish License?

We are convinced that Veikkaus will obtain a Finnish license. This does not mean that the company will cease operations, but rather that it will give up its monopoly position. This means that Veikkaus will compete in the Finnish licensed gambling market just like all other casinos. We believe this is a good thing, as Veikkaus has had an unfair advantage for many years due to its monopoly position. Therefore, they have not needed to improve their game selection or services to a competitive level with international companies. Instead, it has made its own decisions and largely operated as it sees fit, which is not particularly beneficial for the players who have chosen to play its games.

Conclusion

We are looking forward to seeing what the Finnish licensed gambling market brings and how it will be shaped. It was only in 2023 that serious discussions began about introducing such a market, and very little information has been published about it so far. Here at Lisenssikasinot, we will keep our readers updated with the latest news about the Finnish gambling market. Since we work full-time with casinos, you will be notified as soon as we notice anything new in the plans!

Finnish version