Finland 2027 gambling roadmap to be forged by key debates on channelisation

Finland’s gambling market is evolving, as the government and policy advisors have decided to end decades of monopoly control to establish a competitive licensing system, scheduled to launch by 2027.

But with the process still ongoing, how will a pathway to a new system evolve for Finnish stakeholders? A webinar of four Finnish market experts laid out the potential roadmap and rules that operators are looking at. 

Organised by SBC, the webinar was hosted by Jari Vähänen – a Finnish gambling consultant with more than 30 years of experience in the sector. 

Kicking off the session, Vähänen first asked Mika Kuismanen, CEO of the Finnish Trade Association for igaming, to give a brief overview of the government’s work so far and what’s in the pipeline going forward. 

Kuismanen highlighted that politics aside, shifting customer behaviours also played a key role in the changes: “If you look at the competitive verticals like online casino, online sports betting, the channelisation rate is unacceptably low. Everyone realised that the current monopoly system does not work anymore. 

“About two years ago the current government started the legal process to transition from a monopoly system to a competitive license system. The start was very slow, but since the second half of 2023 the process has progressed well.”

As of now, the market liberalisation bill is expected to enter Parliament for a referral debate sometime in the coming months, between mid-March and early April to be exact, Kuismanen added.

After the debate, the draft law will need to be examined across several committee hearings, of which the Administrative Committee’s decision will be of utmost importance. 

Kuismanen noted that if everything goes well, the law should take between eight and 10 weeks to be officially accepted and enforced.  However, the exact market launch date is still up for debate. 

“Nobody knows,” Kuismanen continued. “Maybe it will be July 2026 at the earliest, or January 2027 at the latest.”

Something to keep in mind that could affect the launch date is that Finland will establish a dedicated national gambling regulator, expected to begin work on 1 January, 2027. Until then, the National Police Board will take charge in supervising the sector. 

There will also be additional technical proceedings to be adopted prior to the market’s launch, Kuismanen reminded. 

Details around these proceedings were given by Jaakko Soininen, Managing Director of Finnplay. 

He brought attention to two specific dates – 1 January 2026 and 1 January 2028.

“The first date is the one by which operators need to have submitted their licence application if they want to be the first to enter the market,” he explained. 

“By that time, operators need to have everything ready – documentation, duty of care processes, staff training, etc. Even though the market might open in 2027, like Mika said, operators who want to enter the market first must start preparing from now.”

The second date given by Soininen refers to the day when B2B licences will come into force. The Finnplay CEO pinpointed that this directly affects operators, as teaming up with a supplier who doesn’t get such a license will mean significant replanning for the former. 

On the intricacies of the technical proceedings, he added: “We don’t know much about the technical details yet, but we could either end up with a really easy-to-implement law or a really difficult technical regulation beyond anything that we’ve seen. 

“But that’s something that we will find out further down the line. There is no need for speculation.”

Whatever texts may end up in the bill, Soininen concluded that Finland has great examples in front of it, and could look at “modern European regulated markets” like Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands to draw inspiration from if needed.

To watch the full webinar, and hear a full legal breakdown of what is currently in the draft bill – thanks to Pekka Ilmivalta, Head of Finnish Office at Nordic Legal – click the link here.

https://gcauthority.com/news/543-finland-2027-gambling-roadmap-to-be-forged-by-key-debates-on-channelisation