Entain, SkyCity and Stake Among 11 Successful Bidders for New Zealand Online Casino Licenses

New Zealand has taken another step toward a regulated iGaming market after the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) named 11 gambling operators that can apply for online casino licenses. For PSPs and acquirers, the interesting part is not the auction headline itself, but the compliance stack that comes with it: strict player-protection rules, advertising limits, and a ban on credit cards for gambling payments.

1. On October 13, the DIA announced the results of a competitive auction that drew 32 bidders and ran for 10 rounds. The final price landed at NZD15 million ($8.4 million) per license, and the 11 successful bidders received 15 application rights in total.
2. The right to apply is not the same as getting licensed. Winning bidders still need to submit detailed applications covering business operations, advertising strategies, consumer safeguards, and plans to prevent and minimize gambling-related harm, after which regulators will decide whether each applicant meets New Zealand’s legal and operational standards.
3. Among the successful bidders, Betway operator Baytree Interactive won three application rights. Entain’s Playvia Gaming (NZ) Limited received two, Rock Swift Group received two, and SkyCity will apply through two separate entities: SkyCity NZ Online NO1 and SkyCity NZ Online NO2. Also advancing were Stake New Zealand, Christchurch Online NZ, One Casino, Rush Entertainment, Skill On Net and TAB New Zealand.
4. The framework sets specific operating rules that matter directly to payment flows and customer onboarding. Operators will have to publish limits for daily, weekly and monthly gambling activity, offer mandatory breaks during extended sessions and provide self-exclusion options. Credit cards are banned for gambling payments, and certain advertising practices are also prohibited.
5. The licensing timetable gives existing operators a clear cutoff: as of December 1, 2026, providers serving New Zealand customers face a deadline under the new process, with the first online casino licenses expected in early 2027.

For high-risk payment businesses, the practical message is simple: New Zealand is moving offshore and unlicensed casino activity into a formal regime, and that usually means tighter merchant review, stricter transaction controls, and more attention to how funding methods are presented and accepted. Entain already has a long-standing presence in New Zealand through TAB, while Stake is extending its licensing footprint across regulated markets after its expansion founded by Australian billionaire Ed Craven and his business partner Bijan Tehrani.