Tax and Growth Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt submitted the bill, known as L37, on October 7, 2026, replacing an earlier version that was eliminated after Denmark’s general election in March.
The main change is a whistle-to-whistle ban, which stops gambling ads during live sport, from ten minutes before a game starts to ten minutes after it ends. Ads would also be banned on public transport and within 200 metres of schools and universities. No ad could target people under 18 or feature anyone under 25, and gambling could only be shown as entertainment, not as a way to succeed or fix money problems. Additionally, the same rules would apply to affiliates and influencers.
The bill also gives the regulator, Spillemyndigheden, more powers and makes it a crime to market unlicensed gambling. Serious cases of offering unlicensed gambling could bring fines or up to one year in prison.
If parliament passes it, the rules would roll out in stages between January and October 2027, with the marketing rules starting in July 2027. Previously, when Denmark notified the European Commission of the earlier version, the Ministry of Taxation estimated the ad ban would cut licensed operators’ revenue by about DKK25 million a year.
