Operators in Finland, including SkillOnNet and Wildz Group, have hit back at proposed player protection measures, stressing that they could push players to the black market.
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Finland opens applications for online gambling licenses
Finland has officially opened applications for online gambling licenses as the country is moving to end the monopoly of the state-controlled Veikkaus and launch the regulated iGaming market in July 2027.
The Swedish horse racing betting operator ATG and the Finnish trotting organization Suomen Hippos have confirmed that their joint venture Hippos ATG Oy already submitted an application to the National Police Board’s Lottery Administration, which plans to offer sports betting, iGaming, and horse racing betting.
Antti Koivula, Chief Compliance Officer at Hippos ATG Oy, wrote:
“The National Police Board has estimated that the processing time for license applications will be three to six months, followed by the technical integrations required with the authorities’ systems. In total, the regulatory process is expected to take around 10 months. From our side, this phase has now officially started. It is important to bring trotting betting back closer to the trotting sport, where it naturally belongs. Betting is an integral part of Finnish horse racing, and a new era is now beginning in which trotting betting will once again be developed clearly from the sport’s own starting points.”
Other operators, including Paf Immense Group, operator of the Mr Vegas and DBET brands, and Kambi, which has partnered with SuomiVeto, have also shown interest in entering the Finnish gambling market.
After Finland’s president ratified the new Gambling Act on January 16, 2026, it was formally published, completing the restructuring of the country’s gambling framework.
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