The Finnish Parliament has approved the reform with 158 votes in favor and only 9 against. Applications opened on March 1, 2026, and the new market will launch on July 1, 2027. The objective is very clear: to bring back into the regulated system a share of gambling already worth between €600 and €900 million per year.
Finland has recognized that the market is changing and has decided to take control of the situation. For many Finnish players, offshore options have become the norm, with a significant portion of demand shifting toward casinos licensed in Estonia, where winnings are completely tax-free thanks to EU/EEA regulations.
In this context, platforms like Viron kasinot play an important role by reviewing and analyzing the best Estonian casinos specifically for the Finnish audience, which is looking for more flexible and advantageous alternatives compared to the national system.
The Finnish reform comes after years of discussion, but the timeline is now clear: Veikkaus’ online monopoly will end in the summer of 2027, while the regulated market for local and international operators has already begun to take shape as of March 2026 with the opening of license applications.
Why Veikkaus’ monopoly lost touch with the market
Finland did not decide to change course because Veikkaus collapsed, quite the opposite. The group closed 2025 above its targets, with €936.3 million in revenue and €578.3 million allocated to the Finnish state. The issue, therefore, is not the strength of the public brand itself. The problem is that these figures coexist with an increasingly evident migration of online gambling toward foreign operators.
The data that best explains the shift concerns online betting. Veikkaus’ market share in this segment dropped from around 33% in 2022 to 10% in 2024. It is estimated that between €600 and €900 million per year is already being spent outside the official system. Seen this way, Helsinki’s decision appears far less ideological and far more practical, the sector needs to be redesigned.
How the new licensing system launched in March 2026 will work
The new structure separates the market between activities that remain under state control and those opened to competition. From March 1, 2026, companies can submit applications. Until the end of June 2027, Veikkaus retains its monopoly. Then, from July 1, 2027, the new system comes into effect.
In practice, Veikkaus will lose exclusivity over betting, online casinos, digital slots, and online bingo, but will retain lotteries, scratch cards, physical slot machines, and land-based casinos.
The system revolves around three types of licenses:
- An exclusive license for activities that remain within the state-controlled sphere, under Veikkaus
- A gambling license for operators wishing to offer online products in the open market
- A software license, which from July 2028 will also become important for technology providers in the sector
Registration will require strong identity verification, the minimum age remains 18, players will be able to self-exclude through a centralized system, and they must set daily and monthly deposit limits on their accounts.
Why Helsinki aims to bring hundreds of millions back into the legal system
The government wants gambling to take place within a regulated, taxed, and controllable environment, rather than on foreign sites that attract Finnish players without contributing meaningfully to the national system.
Finland does not believe that the black market can be reduced through restrictions alone. It believes it decreases when the legal offering becomes credible, easy to access, and competitive enough to bring players back into the system.
For this reason, the law focuses on:
- Stronger enforcement against illegal operators and marketing
- A licensed market that provides choice, clear rules, and uniform protections
For years, the monopoly was defended in the name of consumer protection. Now, protection only matters if it can actually follow the player. And today, especially online, a significant portion of that traffic is already outside the old model.
What Finland can learn from Sweden and Denmark without copying them exactly
Helsinki is moving by following the successful examples of Sweden and Denmark. One Danish figure is particularly well known in the industry: the channelization rate of regulated online gambling rose from 40% to 69% in 2012 and to 91.5% in 2024. This is exactly the type of result Finland aims to achieve.
However, the Swedish example also serves as a warning. Sweden currently stands at a channelization rate of 85%, close to its political target of 90%. The gap between segments is significant: betting ranges between 92% and 96%, while online casino fluctuates between 72% and 82%.
This means that opening the market is not enough. Taxes and advertising rules must also be carefully calibrated to avoid pushing players back into the unregulated market.
Why Finland’s shift will increase pressure on Norway
In Norway, the monopoly still holds, but pressure is growing. Around half of Norwegian online gambling is already estimated to have moved to international sites.
With Finland now moving toward a multi-license system, Oslo risks becoming the last Nordic country still firmly attached to a model that is increasingly difficult to defend in the digital era.
If Finland succeeds in bringing a significant share of online gambling back into the legal system, maintaining player protection, and increasing tax revenues, it will become increasingly difficult for Norway to argue that a pure monopoly remains the best solution.