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Finland’s move away from Veikkaus’ long-running monopoly is no longer just a political idea. It is now a live build-out, with regulators and would-be licensees working toward a competitive online betting and casino market that is expected to start on 1 July 2027, after licence applications open on 1 March 2026.
But as the timeline firms up, one question is taking centre stage: how gambling companies will be allowed to market online, and whether restrictions on affiliates and other digital channels will ultimately favour the biggest brands.
The market is opening, but Veikkaus still keeps key ground
Under Finland’s reform plan, Veikkaus would still control parts of the market, including lottery-type games, scratch cards, and physical slot machines and casino games, while betting and online slot/casino move into a licensing system.
When the government first sent the proposal to Parliament, Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said the goal was to balance harm prevention with a model that operators will actually enter.
“This legislative proposal aims to find a regulatory solution for balancing the regulation combating gambling harm with the willingness of gambling operators to apply for a licence, and for shifting online gambling towards a range of regulated games,” Rantanen said.
Who regulates, and when control changes hands
Until the end of 2026, Finland’s National Police Board will continue to serve as the permit authority for gambling services. The police confirmed that in 2026, licence applications should be submitted to the National Police Board and, from July 2027, to the new Supervisory Agency. The new Finnish Supervisory Agency will also oversee compliance with marketing rules.
For operators mapping budgets, the National Police Board has already published headline costs. It has said that the 2026 application fee for an exclusive licence and a gambling licence is €29,000 per application.
Marketing is quickly becoming the pressure point
The government has been direct that marketing would be largely pushed toward operator-controlled channels. These include an operator’s own website and social accounts, with tight limits around what sponsorship can include beyond logo exposure.
That direction is exactly what has triggered industry anxiety. Stakeholders argue the draft approach could steer marketing toward broad-reach “brand” activity while narrowing the more targeted, age-gated acquisition tools smaller operators tend to rely on.
Jari Vähänen, co-founder and partner at The Finnish Gambling Consultants, said the marketing chapter remains hard to read in practice: “The legislation approved in December remains imprecise regarding marketing, so it isn’t easy to assess the marketing opportunities in the future license-based market for now.” He added that, in his view, “large operators with sufficient funds to participate in ‘brand advertising competitions’ in mass media will have good business opportunities,” while restrictions on digital marketing “will pose challenges for smaller operators.”
Also, the Government’s 2025 bill outline already set out a restrictive direction: marketing would be permitted, but not targeted at minors or vulnerable groups, and influencers would not be allowed to market gambling games.
Antti Koivula, Chief Compliance Officer at Hippos ATG, warned the imbalance could backfire on harm goals. “If the goal is to reduce harmful exposure, the logic should be the other way around: stricter limits on mass media, and a controlled but workable space for targeted, age-gated digital marketing,” he said. Koivula also argued that blocking digital channels does not remove them: “Affiliates, influencers, social media, and other digital marketing channels will still exist. If licensed operators cannot use these channels, unlicensed operators will.”
What 2026 still has to settle
Even with the political direction set, the 2026 year ahead still has details to settle. Mainly about how rules are interpreted, what guidance accompanies the law, and what enforcement against unlicensed operators looks like when the competitive market opens.
Finland’s government has already made clear that the new supervisory authority will have tools to end illegal activity and sanction licensees for breaches, including administrative fines and, ultimately, licence withdrawal.
The marketing chapter, though, is where licensees are looking for the next layer of certainty. Operators want to know, in plain language, what will be allowed in practice, especially across affiliate relationships, paid social distribution, and other performance marketing that is easier to age-gate and track than mass media.
With 1 March 2026 pencilled in for licence applications and 1 July 2027 targeted for launch, the industry’s argument is simple: Finland can set strict harm-based limits, but the regulated market still needs enough room to be found, or the offshore market keeps the oxygen.
Source: Yahoo Finance UK
