Gambling in Finland Needs a Drastic Overhaul in 2021

Finland has been coming under increasing pressure over the last few months to review its gambling policy based on its incongruence with the European Union’s free trade ethos and the global move towards regulation and licensing.

Maarten Haijer, Secretary-General of the European Gaming and Betting Association, said:

“Finland’s gambling policy is at a crossroads and the government faces a clear choice: stick with the failings of the current policy and its monopoly system or change course.”

The most hotly contested aspect of the current policy is, as Haijer points out, its reliance on a state-run monopoly. The face of this monopoly in Finland is Veikkaus Oy which acts as both an online casino and safer gambling program.

Faith Veikkaus is Fading Fast

When taken at face value Veikkaus appears to be perfectly positioned to adequately meet the regions gambling needs. They are a single entity which looks after safer gambling programming, manages player spend and time on device, ensures the necessary revenues reach the country’s coffers and more.

Yet a private opinion poll of the region shows that public support for Veikkaus is beginning to wane. This is based both on the stringent controls put in place by the organisation, a lack of trust in their marketing and communication plus a growing understanding of how well other markets are being served by having access to multiple regulated brands.

The areas where the participants responded negatively towards Veikkaus related to the following:

• "Veikkaus is successful at eradicating gambling harms” – 44% disagreed
• “Veikkaus should lose the state monopoly” – 40% agreed
• “Veikkaus claims a gambling monopoly prevents gambling harms” – 33% found this untrue
• “The monopoly should be replaced by a licensing system” – 31% agreed

The same questions and statements were posed in a 2019 poll and the responses for the above question showed a more positive 30% to 20% range at that time.

A very contentious issue when it comes to how Veikkaus meets the governments increasing demand for revenue generation is the explosion in land-based gambling machines in public areas.

Nearly 55% of respondents stated they are not in favour of slot machines being forced into everyday locations such as cafes, restaurants, and fuel stations, yet there are currently at least 10 gaming machines for every ATM in Finland.

 The Internet is Borderless

While Veikkaus appear to be holding strong in the Finnish market a report by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) shows an increasing desire by local players to gamble at offshore casinos.

THL Senior Researcher, Anne Salonen, said:

“Only a relatively few people gamble games offered by operators other than Veikkaus when compared to the number of those gambling Veikkaus games. Then again, there is big money involved in foreign online games.”

Their review of Finnish gambling habits in 2019 shows that the number of players willing to gamble offshore increased from 3.3% to 5.4%. Of their total gambling spend in 2019 nearly 20% was spent at offshore casino sites who generate zero income for Finland.

While these numbers may seem small now, with time, exposure to a growing pool of internationally trusted casinos and increased frustration with Veikkaus, likely, players will simply spend more of their time and money offshore.

If the Finnish government is truly dedicated to offering its citizens a safe and regulated gambling experience, while also benefiting from increased revenues, then opening its borders to licensed international casinos is its best bet.