Finland receives 75 gaming licence applications ahead of its 2027 market opening

Finland’s National Police Board (NPB) has now received 75 gaming licence applications ahead of the country’s competitive market opening in July 2027, up from 50 in June. For high-risk operators and PSPs, that is the part worth watching: Finland is attracting more demand than its provisional regulator initially expected, and the licensing round is already looking crowded.

1. The NPB, Finland’s provisional regulator, said it had received 75 applications before the market opens in July 2027. That is a sharp increase from June, when the figure stood at 50.
2. Janne Nikkinen, a researcher at the University of Helsinki, said the NPB had originally expected to issue between 40 and 60 licences. The current number of applications already exceeds that range. For comparison, Sweden, which has a population nearly twice Finland’s, granted 89 licences.
3. Finland already has a large built-in gambling audience through Veikkaus, the state-owned brand that is deeply embedded in the country’s gambling culture. In 2025, the group generated about $1.011 billion in sales revenue (about €936.3 million) from 2.7 million registered customers, close to half of Finland’s 5.7 million population.
4. Veikkaus itself applied for licences so it can keep its exclusive lottery operation while also competing in the open market for online betting, online casino, slots, and bingo. The company has also reportedly been close to a stock market listing recently.
5. Finland’s new framework will also come with marketing restrictions. When the rules take effect on 1 July 2027, the National Supervisory Authority will have to ensure that the amount, scope, visibility, and frequency of advertising stay moderate, with the aim of steering demand toward licensed gambling. Nikkinen said those restrictions may have led some analysts to underestimate the final number of applications.

Each licence in Finland costs about $31,300 (€29,000). Not all 75 applications necessarily come from different companies, since one operator can apply for multiple licences. The system is designed to cover operators offering betting, casino games, slots, and bingo, which is exactly the sort of detail PSPs and acquirers will care about once the market starts sorting winners from everyone else.