18 firms granted gambling licences in Finland as Veikkaus’s monopoly to end
Finland's National Police Board granted its first gambling licences to 18 operators, ending Veikkaus's monopoly.Summary
The National Police Board granted its first gambling licences to 18 operators under the new Gambling Act, which opens the gambling market to competition and ends Veikkaus's monopoly. The licences authorise operators to organise betting or online casino games, and licensed operators may begin operating and marketing games from 1 July 2027. Processing of applications continues, with an estimated processing time of six to eight months. Most applicants are foreign companies, which must supply required official reports themselves, while Finnish applicants' background information can largely be obtained from national registers. Applications have been accepted since March 2026, and until the end of June 2027 the National Police Board supervises gambling operations and grants licences; from July 2027 these duties will be taken over by the Finnish Supervisory Agency. The new Gambling Act was approved by the President on 16 January, after the government moved to end Veikkaus's monopoly in March 2025.
(Source：Dailyfinland)