Danish regulator says 93% channelisation claim is outdated, urges Big Tech and payment firms to act on illegal gambling

Anders Dorph, who leads Denmark's gambling regulator Spillemyndigheden, has told a SiGMA panel that the country's much-publicised 93% channelisation rate is no longer accurate. Denmark has long been cited as evidence that a well-designed licensing regime can undercut the black market since it opened its online sector in 2012. Dorph said better measurement explains part of the change, but that Denmark is not immune to a drift toward illegal operators.

H2 Gambling Capital began counting crypto casinos and affiliate traffic about 18 months ago, and its estimate of the licensed share of Danish gambling then fell to 78%. The regulator's own web-traffic measure puts the figure at 82%. A recent Spillemyndigheden survey found that only 6-7% of Danish gamblers use illegal sites, though Dorph noted they are heavy players. He also said around one in ten Danish players cannot tell whether a site is legal.

Dorph argued that regulators must look beyond operators to the firms that make them visible and get them paid. He said illegal gambling ads are absent from television but widespread on social media, and that removing ads one by one is too little, too late. The regulator met Meta in May and is seeking another meeting, and it has also spoken with Google. Dorph acknowledged progress is slow. In the Netherlands, the licensed operators' trade body VNLOK has taken Meta to court, accusing it of failing to stop illegal operators advertising on Facebook and Instagram in breach of the Digital Services Act.

Payments are the second front. Dorph said that blocking even 10% of illegal operators' revenue would create a real risk that they go unpaid, even though banks have long described blocking as difficult and costly. He conceded DNS blocking is easily dodged but said activity on blocked sites falls.

Other regulators described similar problems. Latvia's State Revenue Service blocks around 4,500 web pages, yet new domains appear the next day, and H2 estimates a fifth of Latvian online gambling is illegal. Bulgaria's National Revenue Agency said self-excluded players reach illegal sites through VPNs and proxies, and that the country is moving toward payment blocking with its central bank.

Pierre Tournier, interim secretary-general of the European Gaming and Betting Association, said Brussels has explored all available legal avenues and should pursue EU-licensed companies that facilitate illegal operators, including platforms and payment firms. EGBA is lobbying DG CONNECT, which enforces the Digital Services Act, and DG GROW, and is arguing that anti-money-laundering rules could be a powerful tool. It is also gathering evidence on how illegal operators exploit new technologies, including AI.