Regulation
Finland’s Market Is Opening. When Can Operators Start Marketing?
Finland is accepting applications for its future gambling market while pursuing unlawful advertising under the existing system. For prospective entrants, the distinction between applying, receiving a licence and being allowed to use it matters more than the headline launch date.
A market can be open for applications without being open for business. The transition in mainland Finland makes that distinction unusually consequential: companies are preparing to compete for customers whom they cannot yet lawfully target with gambling advertising.
Our September coverage of licence applications and the subsequent report on marketing enforcement describe two parts of the same transition. Growing interest in the future market does not suspend the current rules. Nor will the arrival of competition make every established customer-acquisition method available.
The question for the industry is therefore more precise than when Finland opens: when can a particular operator begin marketing, through which channels, and with what operational requirements already satisfied?
A licence application is not a launch permission
The National Police Board confirmed in June that gambling licence applications had been possible since 1 March 2026. It also made clear that the first licences would take effect on 1 July 2027. Those dates describe different legal stages. Filing an application starts an assessment; it does not grant the applicant an early place in the advertising market.
Until 30 June 2027, Veikkaus retains the exclusive position under the existing framework. The Ministry of the Interior’s transition announcement expressly says that other companies may not run or market gambling games during that period.
A licence decision received before the opening date must therefore be read together with its commencement conditions. Commercial teams may see approval as a major milestone, but the relevant question for an advertising campaign is whether the permission to begin has actually taken effect.
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Licence applications open
An application starts the assessment. It does not permit an operator to launch or advertise.
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Enforcement continues during the transition
The Police Board reports prohibitions and fines over unlawful marketing. Preparing for reform does not suspend the current rules.
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Through
The existing monopoly remains in force
Veikkaus retains its exclusive position. Other operators may not run or market gambling services in mainland Finland.
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From
at the earliestLicensed provision and marketing can begin
Each operator must satisfy its own launch conditions. Marketing remains limited to permitted channels and formats.
Before an operator starts
- Licence granted
- Required audits completed
- Integration with the supervision system completed
- Start date specified in the licence reached
Sources: National Police Board application dates, October enforcement update and launch requirements; Ministry of the Interior transition guidance.
October’s enforcement is part of that transition
In its 14 October update, the National Police Board said it had issued four prohibition decisions and ordered six conditional fines payable during 2026 over unlawful gambling marketing. The prohibitions concerned websites and social media.
The amounts require care. Conditional fines attached to prohibitions ranged from €30,000 to €200,000 for individuals and €100,000 to €1.2 million for companies. The fines actually ordered payable concerned individuals and ranged from €20,000 to €100,000. A threatened conditional fine and a payment order are different stages of enforcement; the larger figures should not be presented as money already collected.
The Board explained that payment follows failure to comply with a prohibition by the prescribed deadline. That makes the consequences extend beyond a disputed advertisement: whether the person or business stops the conduct also matters.
For market entrants, the message is practical. Reform has created a preparation period, not an advertising amnesty.
Marketing reaches beyond a deposit link
The regulator’s current marketing guidance covers advertising, indirect advertising and other sales promotion. Its focus includes increasing demand, making an operator more visible and influencing the operator’s image. The form of the communication does not settle the question.
An article-shaped promotion, a social-media post or a recognisable brand reference can therefore raise the same underlying issue as a conventional advertisement. Removing a bonus code or a direct registration link does not, by itself, answer whether the content promotes gambling.
That does not make every discussion of the sector an advertisement. The guidance distinguishes non-marketing uses of game names from promotional communication. The relevant distinction is the function and context of the material, rather than whether it resembles a banner.
For businesses commissioning content, this complicates the familiar division between “brand awareness” and “conversion”. A campaign designed to build recognition may still fall within the marketing rules even when it does not ask the audience to deposit immediately.
The new market will still restrict the route to customers
Section 51 of the enacted Gambling Act provides specific permitted channels. These include an operator’s own websites and social accounts, subject to the statutory condition against interaction with the consumer; television and radio; public events; print and corresponding electronic publications; and search advertising using terms directly connected to the licence holder or its games. Outdoor advertising has its own restrictions.
It would be inaccurate to describe the future system as allowing only operators’ own channels. Equally, a Finnish licence will not authorise every advertising format. Marketing must be moderate in its volume, reach, visibility and frequency. Minors and other vulnerable people may not be targeted.
The Ministry’s explanation of the new regime also states that influencer marketing and telephone direct marketing are prohibited. The opening date does not turn those methods into ordinary licensed acquisition channels.
The commercial implication is that an international marketing plan cannot simply be translated into Finnish. Channel selection is part of market design, alongside the message and the budget.
Where affiliate marketing stands
Finland’s new regime excludes affiliate marketing. Parliament’s Administration Committee confirmed that the restriction follows from section 51’s permitted channels. A comparison site earning commission for referrals therefore does not gain permission simply by linking to licensed operators or presenting promotions as reviews. The restriction concerns how customers are acquired, even when the destination operator holds a Finnish licence.
Editorial comparison must be distinguished from advertising and sales promotion by its content and purpose. Search-engine optimisation is also distinct from paid search advertising: the committee explicitly separates the two. Section 51 permits paid search only for terms directly related to the licensee or its games. Being found through Google does not give an otherwise prohibited affiliate arrangement permission to market gambling.
Technical readiness also determines the start
The Police’s licence-holder guidance makes the conditions explicit. Provision and marketing may begin no earlier than 1 July 2027, with a granted licence, the required audits completed and integration into the supervision system finished. The start date specified in the licence decision matters.
Connecting to the supervisory interfaces is mandatory. Before gambling services begin, operators must also submit the required audit report and approval covering their systems, equipment and procedures. These are substantive checks, not administrative details to complete after a marketing launch.
The same guidance lists ongoing obligations, including annual marketing reporting and plans addressing gambling harm. Readiness therefore has to connect commercial promises with operational evidence: what the business says it will do, what its systems can support and what it can subsequently demonstrate to the regulator.
A campaign calendar built around the national opening date alone leaves out that operator-specific dependency.
What competition is supposed to achieve
The Ministry describes the reform’s objectives as reducing gambling harm and bringing more play into nationally regulated and supervised services. Betting, online slots, online casino and online money bingo enter the competitive system; lottery-type games and specified physical products remain under a monopoly.
Sweden’s experience shows both the reach and the limits of licensing. In the competitive part of its market, Spelinspektionen estimated channelisation at 84% in 2025, compared with less than 50% before the 2019 reform. That documents a substantial shift towards licensed operators, without establishing which marketing rules caused it. Finland’s policy test is similarly two-sided: whether operators comply with the permitted channels, and whether licensed services attract play that remains outside supervision.
For readers assessing the market, application totals offer only an early indicator of interest. They reveal little about which businesses will complete their preparations, which permitted channels will prove commercially effective or how much existing demand will move into the supervised system.
Finland’s opening will consequently be measured through more than the number of brands that arrive. The meaningful test is whether licensed operators can attract customers within the advertising rules while meeting the controls that distinguish the new market from the activity outside it.