50 Operators Apply for iGaming Licenses in Finland

At the end of March, 24 operators were reportedly interested in obtaining iGaming licenses for the new Finnish online casino market, which will launch in July, 2027. Now, that figure has doubled, with a confirmed 50 operators who have sent their license applications to the National Police Board of Finland. On the 8th of June, the National Police Board released a statement that claimed 50 applications had been received, and that each has been sent the processing fee invoices – after which the application processing can begin.

This is a considerable flurry of operators for Finland’s iGaming sector, which has a market value estimate of around €1.5 billion in 2026. There are no caps on the number of applications that the gambling authorities will receive, and as the taxation, compliance costs and licensing fees are all public information now, this is a big jump for Finland. Skipping back a bit, to the present day, the current iGaming sector is entirely handled by the state-run gambling monopoly, Veikkaus. And Veikkaus has recently introduced age tier loss limits, marking a new safety net for younger players, and perhaps foreshadowing some of the player protection measures that the new Finnish iGaming market may have when it launches in 2027.

50 Operators Line Up for Finland

The official list of those 50 license applicants in Finland has not yet been revealed – we don’t know which operators have submitted their applications. The National Police Board’s Gambling Administration made the announcement about 50 operators applying for Finnish iGaming licenses, and senior adviser Juha Katainen said

“The reliability and suitability of the applicants will be evaluated on the basis of documents… The complexity of processing and evaluating applications is affected by the fact that the majority of applicants are foreign,”

That doesn’t really come as a surprise, the part about most of the applicants being foreign operators. Because currently there is only one official operator in the country, Veikkaus Oy, the state-owned lotteries, online casino, and sportsbook provider. Veikkaus owns the monopoly on gambling in Finland, and will do so until its gambling license expires in 2027. From July 1, the new open iGaming market will launch in Finland, whereby any operator can obtain a license and enter the market.

A territory with a storied culture of sports betting, high gaming engagement, and affluent inhabitants, it is safe to say, Finland has a lot to offer gambling operators – foreign or otherwise.

What Operators Should Consider

Any would be operators in Finland’s new iGaming market will have to comply with the gambling authority’s rules, currently headed by the Ministry of Finance and executed by the Police Board. Under the new iGaming sector regulations, the supervision of gambling activities will be passed onto a new body, the Licensing and Supervisory Authority.

For starters, the operators will have to pay a non-refundable €29,000 processing fee for iGaming license applications, and submit the relevant paperwork relating to the business. The current gambling authority has not yet set a deadline for when the applications are to be approved (or declined), but the target processing time is between 3 and 6 months.

Licensing Conditions and Types

Approved licences will be valid for 5 years, and anyone applying for exclusive licences will get 10 years. The difference between the two, other than the time validity, is that the exclusive licence gives the holder the rights to provide a specific gambling service – the example on the National Police Board are “pools games, lotteries, slot machines and casinos”. And that these exclusive licences can only be granted to a limited liability company that is controlled by the Finnish state, and that is in the gambling business.

Operators in Finland will be subject to a 22% tax on gross gaming revenue, they will need to pay supervision fees – based on revenue – and they will have to comply with player safety regulations. Also, a thing to note for any operators, is that while the iGaming scene is opening up, it will not be fully open to competition.

Veikkaus, right now the sole provider of all things gambling in Finland, is going to retain:

• Lotteries
• Scratch cards
• Land-based casinos
• Physical slot machines

License holding operators can provide:

• Online casinos
• Online slots
• Real money bingo
• Sports betting

It is quite close to the situation in Denmark, where there is an open market, with partial limitations to protect Dankse Spil, the state-owned company that holds the monopoly on lottery products.

Tight Competition and Saturation Concerns

A lot of countries either reforming their current iGaming markets or launching new ones tend to create some kind of safety net to avoid saturation. They want competition and quality products for players, but not at the expense of creating too much competition, increased advertising, and promotional offers that can cross the line with player safety regulations. This can be done through a number of ways, including limiting the number of licenses for operators, setting requirements for licensees to have a physical base in the country (or region), and potentially increasing the taxation/licensing costs to filter out operators. Other options include making separate licenses for different verticals or creating strict suitability requirements that will whittle down the number of interested parties.

Finland has not really done any of these. It is keeping the lotteries, scratchcards, and some other verticals for Veikkaus, but giving sportsbooks, online casinos and bingo operators full lease to join and hit the ground running. This may raise concerns about the environment they are trying to build, but there is still a lot of time between the launch (1 July 2027) and now. And for that matter, we don’t even know how many of these applicants will get approved either – there may be some withdrawals or declined applications in the near future.

Questions Surrounding Veikkaus

Veikkaus struggled to bring players away from the black market, and this is one of the main reasons that Finland decided to open its iGaming market. Though the operator has not sat idly by as the changes were announced. It has partnered up with B2B iGaming software providers, created its own in-house game studio Fennica Gaming, and doubled down on gambling sponsorships – even gaining naming rights to the Helsinki Areena – now called Veikkaus Arena.

Recently, the state-owned gambling operator stated that it will change the age based customer loss limit protocols. Players will receive notifications if they hit any of the loss thresholds within a calendar year, and will be flagged up for additional monitoring by the operator. The new rates will be:

• €4,000 first checkpoint for 18-19 year olds with an annual loss limit of €8,000
• €8,000 first checkpoint for 20-24 year olds with an annual loss limit of €24,000
• €24,000 first checkpoint for 25+ year olds

If you hit the maximum limit in your age group, you won’t be allowed to play further, so you can’t lose anymore. But after the first checkpoint you will receive responsible gambling messages and counsel.

Potential Sale or Break Up

With plenty of time to prepare for the changes, Veikkaus looks poised to dominate in the market. That is, if business runs as usual. For there has been speculation about the Finnish government selling Veikkaus, or breaking it up, in recent weeks.

No formal plans have been announced yet, but some members of parliament have questioned whether or not the company could sell off parts of its operations, or restructure its business model, potentially separating the gambling verticals.

Parties Interested in Finland

Regardless, the new Finnish iGaming market that will launch next year on July 1, looks highly promising. Just to compare it with the Alberta iGaming launch, where license applications have been accepted since the start of the year and already the sector will have 35 iGaming operators – rivaling the Ontario market. Finland already has 50 suitors, with lots of room for more applicants to join the fray as the momentum builds.

A quick glance at the neighboring markets in Sweden and Denmark could hint at who some of those operators may be. For the likes of bet365, LeoVegas, Unibet, and 888 (Evoke), are all foreign operators who have hit the ground running in those Nordic countries. Learning the Finnish gaming tastes and leaning on their major reputations, they would be the obvious choices to join the market. Neither Sweden nor Denmark have caps on the number of operators, and Denmark is reported to have around 30-35 licensed operators, whereas the Swedish Gambling Authority shows 85 licensed operators. Finland could be the next major hub for many of these firms, bringing back players from the black market and building a stronger, regulated environment for them.