The National Police Board of Finland has reported strong interest in the country’s upcoming commercial iGaming market as it prepares to move away from its monopoly-based system.
According to Poliisi, the gambling administration has already received 50 licence applications as the market continues preparations for its planned launch on 1 July 2027.
Before an application can be considered for potential licensing, applicants must pay an administrative fee of €29,000 ($31,610). The National Police Board may also request additional information where necessary, including details on a company’s financial position.
Poliisi noted that application processing takes around six months; however, there is no strict deadline for submissions, as the process operates on a continuous basis.
Juha Katainen, Senior Adviser at the National Police Board, said: “The reliability and suitability of the applicants will be evaluated on the basis of documents, such as register extracts, certificates and various reports, submitted by the applicant.
“The complexity of processing and evaluating applications is affected by the fact that the majority of applicants are foreign.”
Poliisi also advises applicants not to request status updates on their applications, as such inquiries divert resources away from the processing work.
Once Finland’s online gaming market launches next year, commercially licensed operators will be able to offer sports betting, online casino games, slots, and online bingo for real money.
However, the state-owned operator Veikkaus will retain its monopoly over Lotto, Eurojackpot, and land-based gaming machines. At the same time, the company supports market liberalisation and fair competition as a way to combat the growing influence of the black market.
Operators licensed by 1 July next year will be able to go live at market launch. After that, supervisory and licensing responsibilities in the online gaming sector will transfer from the National Police Board to the Finnish Supervisory Agency.
Ironing out creases
At a Gaming in Finland webinar last month, Nordic Legal’s Finland Office Head Pekka Ilmivalta noted that operators are awaiting guidance on several issues, including marketing and responsible gambling, while continuing to develop other areas of their businesses after submitting licence applications.
Ilmivalta said: “Operators are preparing for the application process and submitting the applications, but not everything is ready when the application has been submitted, or even if the licence has been granted. There are lots of things to do.
“There are lots of policies and rules to be drafted, even afterwards. There’s legal work after that, but also marketing guidelines and responsible gambling guidelines. We are expecting advice and guidance from the regulators, probably in Q1 2027, but let’s see where it goes. There’s still a lot to do.
“On the other hand, there’s a lot of other things to consider and to prepare to be ready in 13 months or so. From our side, we would like to remind stakeholders that there’s always a possibility to provide questions to the National Police Board, to the regulator. We will do that for some of our clients, but there’s always a possibility to get clarifications if anything is unclear.”
Earlier this year, Jon Hautamäki and Niko Hannolainen of Nordic Law presented a detailed overview of the regulatory framework and development trends of Finland’s online gaming market, covering operator obligations, marketing, technical standards, software licensing, and anti-money laundering (AML), as well as the industry’s future outlook.
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