Finnish iGaming Conference 2026: Finland prepares for a new gambling era

Finland’s gambling market is approaching one of the biggest transformations in its history. The first day of Finnish iGaming Conference 2026 made one thing clear: obtaining a licence will only be the beginning. Regulation, channelisation, Finnish gambling culture, payments, trust, media, brand building and even the changing definition of gambling itself will determine who ultimately succeeds in the new market.

The opening day of Finnish iGaming Conference 2026 brought together operators, lawyers, media companies, technology providers and gaming experts to examine Finland’s transition from a monopoly-based system towards a licensed gambling market.

Across the day, one theme repeatedly emerged: Finland offers significant potential, but it will not necessarily be an easy market to enter.

A market worth fighting for

Jari Vähänen of Finnish Gambling Consultants opened the conference with a comprehensive overview of the new Finnish gambling system and the opportunities – and unanswered questions – surrounding it.

The competitive market is scheduled to open in July 2027, while B2B licensing requirements will follow in 2028.

Although the framework is taking shape, operators are still waiting for important details concerning marketing, duty of care, technical requirements and several practical aspects of the new regime.

The Finnish model will also differ significantly from many other regulated European markets. Credit gambling and cryptocurrency payments will not be permitted, and traditional welcome bonuses, free games and free gambling money will be prohibited. Mandatory customer-set daily and monthly deposit limits will also form part of the system.

The level of commercial interest is nevertheless substantial.

Vähänen estimated that Finnish gambling marketing expenditure could reach approximately €200–250 million annually during the first 12–18 months of the new market – potentially around eight times the current level. He expects the most intense competitive phase to begin settling around 2029.

That marketing battle will take place in a country where gambling is already deeply established.

Understanding the Finnish gambler

Juha-Matti Mäkilä took the discussion from regulation to culture with a presentation on the characteristics of gambling in Finland.

For decades, gambling – and particularly Veikkaus – has occupied an unusual position in Finnish society.

The famous slogan “Suomalainen voittaa aina” – “A Finn always wins” – encapsulated a system in which gambling losses were connected to funding sports, culture and other societal causes. That history helped create a generally positive cultural relationship with gambling and an exceptionally strong position for Veikkaus.

At the same time, Finnish gambling behaviour has changed dramatically.

Annual GGR is currently around €2 billion. Physical slot machine and casino GGR, which exceeded €700 million in 2018, has fallen to approximately €130 million, while digital casino GGR has moved in the opposite direction – from around €400 million in 2018 to more than €1 billion today.

For international operators, however, understanding the numbers is only part of the challenge.

The Finnish customer is highly digital but still consumes traditional media, and values reliability, ease of use, localisation and fluent Finnish.

That means entering Finland is not simply a matter of translating an existing product into Finnish.

Operators will have to understand the cultural position they are entering – including the extraordinary familiarity and trust Veikkaus has built over generations.

Payments and identification: Finland has an advantage, but strong ID is not enough

Finland’s sophisticated digital infrastructure was another major topic of the day.

A panel moderated by Minna Ripatti, Founding Partner at Legal Gaming Attorneys at Law, brought together Erkki Nikunen, Co-Founder & CEO of Trumo; Paul Strijkers, CEO of Hard Rock Casino Netherlands; and Laura Liego, Senior Legal Advisor at Legal Gaming Attorneys at Law to discuss customer identification, payment methods and AML.

Finland starts from a strong position. Consumers are accustomed to electronic banking, strong digital identification and fast payments.

But identifying a customer does not automatically solve the operator’s KYC and AML obligations.

Questions around source of funds, source of wealth, transaction monitoring and the purpose of the customer relationship will remain relevant. The discussion also highlighted the potential value of better information sharing between operators, banks and payment providers.

One of the central ideas was that more data does not automatically mean better compliance.

If every anomaly produces an alert, the result can be defensive reporting rather than intelligent risk management. Effective systems need to recognise patterns, understand context and distinguish between individual signals and genuinely meaningful risk.

The panel also looked towards EU Digital Identity Wallets as a development that could eventually make onboarding and KYC considerably more seamless across Europe.

The immediate question for Finland, however, is whether all the necessary data and infrastructure will be available when the market opens.

What will Finnish iGaming look like in 2030?

The conference then looked beyond the launch itself.

The “Predictions for Finnish iGaming in 2030” panel was moderated by Jarkko Soininen, Managing Director of Finnplay, with Dainis Niedra, COO North & Central Europe at Entain; Minna Ripatti, Founding Partner at Legal Gaming Attorneys at Law; and Tuomas Airisto, Commercial Director B2B at Sanoma Media Finland.

One prediction was relatively safe: not everyone entering Finland will still be there in 2030.

The panel anticipated a market led by a group of major operators, while still leaving room in the Top 10 for challengers with strong tactical strategies and sufficient marketing resources. Veikkaus should not automatically be considered one of the losers either: its brand recognition and existing customer base provide a formidable starting position.

But the more interesting question was how to define whether the reform itself has succeeded.

The answers went far beyond operator profitability.

Success could mean Finnish players receiving a competitive customer experience within the licensed market, the state achieving its tax objectives, operators being able to build sustainable businesses and, crucially, a high channelisation rate combined with an effective regulator capable of addressing the offshore market.

The panel expected 2027 and 2028 to be turbulent years, with increased advertising, public debate and political pressure. By 2030, however, the expectation was that consumers and the industry would have largely adjusted to the new reality.

In Finland, familiarity is not enough

Marketing became one of the strongest themes of the afternoon.

Reetta Thurman, Marketing Strategist at Sanoma Media Finland, challenged operators to think about brand building long before the first bet is placed.

Her central argument was that consideration is not simply a stage in a traditional marketing funnel. By the time a consumer opens a betting app, much of the decision about which brands are acceptable has already been made.

An unfamiliar brand is unlikely to enter that consideration set at all.

But in Finland, even familiarity is insufficient.

Trust matters.

According to the presentation, reliability ranks ahead of brand recognition when Finns choose a gambling provider. Brands therefore need to become both known and credible.

Forsman identified three fundamentals of brand building: be distinctive, build mental availability before the moment of purchase, and pursue broad penetration rather than relying only on existing heavy users.

The media environment itself can also play an important role in creating credibility. Sanoma’s research presented at the conference showed high levels of trust in traditional channels such as newspapers, television, radio and news sites.

For gambling brands entering Finland, the implication is significant: media is not simply a way to buy attention. It can also be a way to borrow credibility.

Finland is not Sweden

The theme continued in a media panel moderated by Reetta Thurman, featuring Christoph Wilk, Director of Business Operations at Bauer Media Audio; Joonas Partanen, Managing Editor at Iltalehti, Alma Media; and Karri Ahonen, B2B Sales Director at Sanoma.

One of the clearest warnings to international operators was not to treat the Nordics as a single homogeneous market.

A Nordic hub may make perfect operational sense, but cultural norms, language, regulation and consumer behaviour do not automatically travel from Stockholm to Helsinki.

Trust, consistency and context were repeatedly highlighted as essential ingredients in Finland.

Building awareness may feel like a sprint when the market opens, but building a trusted brand is a marathon.

Media companies also acknowledged their own responsibility. Simply flooding Finnish consumers with gambling advertising would not produce a sustainable result for the public, operators, media companies or other advertisers.

The challenge will be finding an appropriate balance between commercial opportunity and the overall consumer experience.

For operators still waiting to develop their Finnish marketing strategies, the panel had a straightforward message: the time to start is now.

Understand the consumer, build distinctive brand assets, learn the regulatory framework, engage with media partners and ensure campaigns are compliant before launch. Media negotiations are already underway, and waiting will inevitably reduce the options available.

The potential influx of gambling advertising will also affect the wider Finnish media market. When asked about the impact of increased demand on pricing, the panel acknowledged the basic economics: if demand exceeds available inventory, prices are likely to rise or new inventory will need to be created. Sponsorship was highlighted as one potential avenue that does not consume conventional advertising inventory.

When gambling becomes entertainment – and entertainment becomes gambling

The final panel of the day looked further into the future.

Moderated by Brian Forth, Commercial Director at Finnplay, the session explored the growing convergence between traditional gambling, mobile gaming, social gaming, streaming and entertainment.

And appropriately, the panel itself abandoned the conventional conference formula: audience members threw darts at balloons containing questions and cash prizes while the speakers enjoyed beers on stage.

The format reflected the subject.

Gaming and gambling are increasingly borrowing from each other. Video games have adopted mechanics such as loot boxes, chance-based rewards and in-game purchases, while gambling companies are increasingly introducing progression, communities, quests, social interaction, gamification and other mechanics familiar from casual gaming.

The panel included representatives from AirDice, Henry Lindgren, CEO of Kokon Games, and Sandri Pozio, Co-Founder of Betsy.

One of the most interesting shifts is from maximising individual transactions towards maximising long-term engagement.

New game mechanics can appeal to recreational players who may be motivated not only by winning money but by competing with friends, progressing through a game, participating in a community or simply being entertained.

The industries are already cross-pollinating. Entertainment gaming has adopted gambling-style monetisation mechanics, while gambling is importing the engagement and retention mechanics developed by gaming. In some cases, the resulting products are becoming increasingly difficult to categorise.

That raises an equally important regulatory question.

If gambling regulation defines products too narrowly according to traditional formats such as slots, casino games or sportsbooks, genuinely new products may not fit neatly into any category.

The argument from the panel was not necessarily for lighter regulation, but for regulation that focuses more on player protection and risk than on prescribing exactly what a game must look like.

Finland's real test begins after the licence is granted

Across a full day of presentations and discussions, Finnish iGaming Conference 2026 painted a picture of a market with considerable commercial potential – but also a market that will demand patience.

Finland already has the players, the digital infrastructure and a deeply rooted gambling culture. International operators are clearly interested, and a substantial new ecosystem of marketing, media, technology, legal, payment and B2B services is likely to develop around the licensed market.

But none of that guarantees success.

Operators will need to earn trust in a country where the incumbent has spent decades building it. They will need to navigate a regulatory system that is still taking shape, create seamless but compliant payment and identification journeys, understand a distinctly Finnish consumer and compete for attention in a media environment where dozens of brands may arrive almost simultaneously.

And beyond 2027 lies the bigger question raised repeatedly throughout the day:

Will Finland succeed in moving players into the regulated market?

That may ultimately be the metric that matters most.

If Finland can combine strong channelisation with effective player protection, commercially viable operators, intelligent regulation and room for innovation, the reform could create one of Europe’s most interesting regulated iGaming markets.

The first day of Finnish iGaming Conference 2026 showed that the industry is ready to compete.

Now the real work begins.