INSIGHT LOTTERIES AND MONOPOLIES
country’s horse racing betting monopoly would remain under the control of Norsk Rikstoto after Risktoto’s rights to operate pari mutuel horse racing bets expired at the end of 2021. In 2021, the government submitted a new Gambling Act which aims to consolidate the country’s existing gambling legislation into one unified act and will strengthen the exclusive rights model enjoyed by Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto.
While there are no land based casinos Norsk Tipping also operates its own network of VLT games called Multix. Tey can be found in kiosks, restaurants and kiosks, petrol stations, bars and cafes. Te lottery also has the exclusive right to operate Belago a range VLTs found in around 200 bingo halls.
FINLAND
While government owned monopolies often argue that they are the best placed to limit gamble related harm this arguably has not been the case in Finland where all gambling products are under the exclusive control of monopoly provider Veikkaus Oy. According to a 2019 survey by Te Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, three per cent of Finland’s population (about 112,000 people) had a gambling problem, with 1.4 per cent (about 52,000 people) reporting a probable gambling dependency. As a result Veikkaus announced that it would significantly reduce the 18,500 slot machines dotted around the country in shops and arcades by around 8,000 by the end of December 2020.
racing respectively. Online gambling is only permitted for state monopolies.
In 2013, the government allowed Norsk Tipping to expand its online offering to include casino games. Te government prohibits the marketing and advertising of gambling products with heavy fines, and legal prosecution. In addition, the government has imposed payment blocking on offshore operators targeting the market.
Norway continues to protect its monopoly and has in fact doubled
down over its right to be the sole operator of a number of non lottery products. Te government has no plans to end the lottery control over gaming as, according to Culture Minister Linda Hofstad Helleland, the monopoly is the best way to protect players and curb gambling addiction.
Te monopoly looks set to continue. In April 2019, Norsk Tipping launched a tender process to select a solution for its sports betting platform for the next five years. In April 2020, the government announced that the
In 2018, Veikkaus reported that around 42 per cent of its sales were from online operations and claimed it had around 90 per cent of the country’s overall online market. However, the channelisation rate is probably far lower than this. While laws in Finland prohibit offshore casinos from entering the market and offering any form of advertising in the country players are not prosecuted for using foreign sites.
Finland, as a EU member state, will in all likelihood face further pressure from EU authorities to change its online gambling monopoly. All the same, the Finnish parliament approved the
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P33
country’s new Lottery Act on its first reading in December. Te act proposes tougher measures against offshore operators including payment blocking against any operator other than Veikkaus.
In December 2021, Maarten Haijer of the European Gambling and Betting Association (EGBA) criticised the government’s monopoly saying that public support for Veikkaus was falling. It was high time for this to end he argued as it not only meant that players were turning towards offshore operators but the government had failed to protect players as gambling addiction was much higher when compared to other countries such as Spain. Haijer said: “Replacing the monopoly with an open-licensing system is not about getting more people in Finland to gamble, nor is it about killing off Veikkaus. Rather, it is the sensible way to meet the demands of those Finnish gamblers who seek an alternative to the monopoly and currently gamble on international gambling websites – and to regulate and tax this activity.”
“According to a
2019 survey by The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, three per cent of Finland’s population had a gambling
problem, with 1.4 per cent (about 52,000 people) reporting a probable gambling dependency. As a result Veikkaus announced that it would significantly reduce the 18,500
slot machines dotted around the country in shops and arcades by around 8,000 by the end of December 2020.” Finland
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