Finland begins announcing approved gambling licences ahead of July 2027 market opening

Finland is preparing a partial liberalisation of its gambling market, with licensed private operators set to offer online gambling from 1 July 2027. The change moves the country away from a state-owned monopoly model. Licence applications opened in March 2026, and the National Police Board, which processes them, has begun officially announcing approvals.

Under the current system, state-owned Veikkaus holds exclusive rights over all forms of gambling. Once the online market opens, Veikkaus will compete with private operators online, while keeping its monopoly over land-based gaming machines, lotteries and scratch cards. Regulatory oversight will pass from the National Police Board to a new body, the Supervisory Agency, which is still being established.

One early licence holder is Wildz Group. Its chief executive told iGB last month that the company plans to launch 11 brands in Finland and apply for further licences after receiving its first in October. Other major operators have also described large ambitions for the market, and operators, lawyers and experts have said they are broadly satisfied with the new regulatory regime.

Market data helps explain the policy shift. H2 Gambling Capital estimates Finland's total gross gambling revenue at 1.9 billion euros in 2026. Veikkaus reported GGR of 931 million euros for 2025, well below the 1.8 billion euros it recorded in 2017. Channelisation, meaning the share of play captured by regulated providers, is put at around 50%, compared with a reported 90% a decade earlier. Falling channelisation is seen as one of the main reasons for liberalising. A sizeable grey market exists because operators can legally serve Finnish customers provided they do not specifically market to them.

The country is also seen as attractive because of its high per-capita gambling rate and stable political consensus behind liberalisation, in contrast to the tightening and tax increases seen elsewhere in Europe.

B2B suppliers face a staged regime. At launch, operators may choose their service providers freely, provided they meet their obligations under the updated Gambling Act. From 1 July 2028, however, suppliers will need a licence from the Supervisory Agency to serve licensed Finnish operators. The application window for B2B software licences will open in July 2027.