EGBA and Veikkaus voice support for multi-licence shakeup in Finland
Trade body and monopoly operator both back government plan to establish a competitive market to Nordic nation from 2026
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and Finland’s monopoly operator, Veikkaus, have thrown their support behind the proposed transition to an open-licence model for the country.
The trade body and the state-run operator have backed the pivot, with the Ministry of the Interior launching a working group yesterday, 24 October, to help facilitate the transition.
The working group will explore tax rates, licence fees and self-exclusion programmes before delivering its findings to parliament in the spring of 2025.
As things stand, Finland is the last remaining EU member state to operate with an online gambling monopoly, a situation that allowed Veikkaus to generate GGR of €1.07bn in 2022.
Commenting on the news, the EGBA said it “fully supports” the Finnish government’s plans to move away from the monopoly setup, citing the enhancement of player protections, operator compliance and increased tax monies for the states.
Maarten Haijer, EGBA secretary general, added that it was a “welcome step towards meaningful and overdue gambling reform”.
He continued: “The introduction of multi-licensing would provide greater choice and safeguards to Finnish consumers, ensure fairer competition between operators, and enable the Finnish authorities to have greater control over their online gambling market.
“With these changes of the Finnish legislation, all member states of the EU will now have some form of licensing regime for online gambling. We look forward to continuing dialogue with the Finnish government and local stakeholders as the regulatory discussions develop,” Haijer added.
Elsewhere, Veikkaus deputy CEO Velipekka Nummikoski said the company was fully behind the developments, which should see a multi-licence market go live in January 2026.
Nummikoski commented: “It’s great that the project is progressing. At Veikkaus, we give the project our full support. This is the biggest gambling reform in the history of Finland, with an ambitious schedule.
“The government programme has set clear starting points for the reform and it is good to proceed with them. Hopefully, a system will be created that effectively channels gambling into the licensed supply,” he added.
In September, Veikkaus warned that almost 250 staff face the threat of redundancy as the company prepares for the end of its monopoly reign.