A wave of new gambling regulation in the Nordics — Finland and also Norway could be joining

Online gambling is constantly getting more and more popular in the world. The commercial internet is already over 30 years old, and the technology has long since crossed the point where the internet has become mainstream. As a result, many countries are finding it necessary to update some of their long-held positions on laws and policies.

In this article, we take a look at how Sweden, Finland, and Norway are currently all viewing their online casino laws and regulations. At the time of writing, all of these Northern countries seem to be taking a long hard look at how to proceed forward.

Sweden started regulating gambling in 2019

Out of the three Nordic countries, Sweden was the very first to create its own gambling license and open its market for outsiders. In fact, it was already 6 years ago when this happened, which is why there is plenty of data available on how things have since progressed.

Swedish lawmakers were the first to realize that monopolies on gambling would not be sustainable under the current market conditions. Online casinos had already become extremely popular and started chipping away profits from the governmental option. This would give birth to a new licensing model where foreign online casino companies could pay a fee to enter the national market.

However, not everything about the new Swedish gambling market model turned out to be unicorns and rainbows. Many experts have been especially critical of the way that Swedish lawmakers have tackled the area of giving customers casino bonuses. According to them, as well as many casino companies, the rules have been too strict and ended up stifling innovation and competition in the market.

Six years after Sweden started regulating, there have been some public calls to amend some of these very rules. It remains to be seen whether Sweden will end up making changes in order to make their new system more sustainable and better in the future.

Finland will start regulating gambling in 2027

In many ways, Finland can be considered somewhat of a little brother to Sweden. Many in Finland say that unless Sweden chooses to make big changes, Finland will never be the first one to do so. In light of this, it is no wonder that it has taken such a long time for Finland to follow in Sweden’s footsteps to start regulating.

In 2023, it was finally announced that Finland would be getting rid of its decades-long monopoly on gambling. There are already dozens of tax-free casinos in Finland, but from 2027 onwards, those securing a Finnish license will be let into the market officially. This means they will no longer need to operate from outside of the Finnish borders.

From a gambler’s perspective, not much will likely change other than perhaps there being more marketing around for different casinos. However, from a governmental perspective, there will probably be more companies paying taxes on their profits.

Norway also nearing a breakthrough

In lieu of its two neighbors giving up on their monopolies, there are now rumblings that Norway might also end up doing the same. For now, only the Norwegian state monopolies Norsk Rikstoto and Norsk Tipping have been able to offer gambling services to the public.

Years ago, when Sweden opted to go the regulation route, Norway rather decided to bolster its monopoly. This was done by trying to block outside online casinos from being able to accept Norwegian customers. However, this strategy ended up backfiring as many customers would find ways to circumvent these blocks.

Now, at the end of 2024, Norway’s second-largest party, the Conservative Party, scored a major political victory. Soon after this, the party decided to throw its support behind wanting to end the Norwegian gambling monopoly. As a result, there is now overwhelming support for this finally happening.

According to some early estimates, Norway could be getting rid of its monopoly somewhere during 2028.

Conclusion

It would seem that the era of European gambling monopolies is coming to an end. Slowly but surely, each Nordic nation has given up on its stranglehold on the gambling market. Clearly, the proverbial genie is out of the bottle and cannot be put back in.

The next few years will be extremely interesting for all gambling companies with operations in the Nordics.