Tides are turning in the Finnish online gambling market. For decades, Finland has had a state-run monopoly on all gambling. This has included everything from scratchcards, lotto, keno, bingo, table games, slots—even sports betting. Recently, however, the Finnish government announced that the country would be creating its own license and welcoming outside companies into the market.
As Finland is looking to regulate gambling, this will undoubtedly have huge business implications and affect several companies’ bottom line. In this article, we analyze what kinds of changes could be seen from a business perspective.
Current Finnish online casino market
At the time of writing, Finland still had an existing state-run monopoly in place. From what we have been told, the year 2025 will be when incremental change will start to happen as Finland begins to regulate.
Despite Finland having had a closed gambling market ever since the 1940s, the country has not been able to avoid foreign influences or even competitors. This is because of the EU’s free movement clause, which means that Finland cannot simply ban online casinos from operating online.
Furthermore, according to EU laws, the only accepted reason for having a monopoly is the pursuit of keeping the market as responsible as possible. Many over the years have argued that Finnish Veikkaus has failed this mission as Finland has some of the highest numbers for gambling problems in the world.
In Finland, the vast majority of shops and gas stations have slot machines inside of them, meaning that every 18-year-old passer-by is able to gamble in conjunction with buying their groceries or filling their gas tanks at the pump. Because of this, it is no wonder that Finnish people have also been gambling-oriented enough to find their way to foreign online casinos in droves.
Why do Finns play online?
Some would argue that having gambling everywhere in Finland would diminish the need to play online. However, most Finnish gamblers are well aware that, on the free market, online casinos are doing all they can to stay relevant with massive bonuses and promotional campaigns. What is more, foreign online casinos feature games from hundreds of game providers, whereas Veikkaus mostly focuses on its own creations.
Finns also like the fact that many of their favorite casinos are tax-free. Verovapaatnettikasinot lists brands such as these that operate under well-known and reputable EU licensing. Casinos from Malta and Estonia are especially trustworthy.
Many companies anxiously await Finnish gambling changes
Not a lot is yet known of what the new Finnish gambling system will look like. While the Finnish government will indeed be handing out fresh new Finnish licenses, there is no information yet on what the costs and benefits of these licenses will be. If the license is too expensive or all marketing is banned, there is a chance that some companies may opt not to get it. This, in turn, could mean that these companies could lose their grip on the lucrative Finnish market, which would be detrimental to their bottom line.
While casinos operating outside of the Finnish system will likely still remain accessible even after the changes are implemented, customers will no doubt have several viable options inside of the system as well.
For investors, it could now be inherently risky to buy shares of companies with a huge presence in Finland. With this high risk also comes the possibility of high rewards, however, as these companies could also end up becoming some of the biggest beneficiaries of the changing of the laws. If the terms and conditions of the new license are good enough, Finns could quickly see a huge influx of new casinos coming to the market.
Conclusion
In this article, we have talked at length about the current Finnish gambling system as well as what is to come. From a purely financial perspective, there are still plenty of unanswered questions. In the coming months, we will find out a lot more about what direction the Finnish lawmakers will be headed. Either the politicians will make a system that will be good for gamblers and gambling companies alike, or the Finnish masses will need to keep playing outside of the official system for their preferred kind of entertainment.
