The Finnish regulator has for the first time confirmed the list of companies granted licenses for the upcoming online gambling market. As of October 26, the authority had received 79 applications and approved 12 licenses. No applications have been rejected so far. This was reported by iGaming Business, citing a response from the National Police Board.

The following companies received licenses:

  • Hippos ATG Oy;
  • Sunflower Gaming Limited;
  • Granturo Finland Ltd — Wildz Group;
  • Skill On Net Ltd;
  • SuomiVeto Oy;
  • Cloudberry Ent Limited;
  • SixthSpin Limited;
  • KuuFlip Limited;
  • RocketLily Ent Limited;
  • Nivei Ursi Limited;
  • YTBlue Limited;
  • Buccone Trading Limited.

Wildz Group and Hippos ATG had already announced their licenses independently. Now the regulator has confirmed their approval. The current monopoly holder Veikkaus has also applied, but is not yet on the published list.

The market will open to private online operators on July 1, 2027. Operations under the new licenses can only begin once they come into force. Until the end of June, Veikkaus retains the exclusive right to offer and advertise gambling in mainland Finland.

What about affiliate traffic?

The new market has a significant restriction. The law only allows promotion through specified channels. As Borenius lawyers explain, affiliate and influencer marketing are not included in this list and will be prohibited.

This is a crucial point for owners of Finnish review sites: a casino license by itself does not permit attracting players via affiliate links. Therefore, it would be premature to consider the 12 licensees as future advertisers for standard CPA or RevShare models.