Finland liberalizing its online gambling market has provoked Norway’s political parties to renew calls to regulate gambling and end its gaming monopoly. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Norway parties push to regulate gambling

Norway’s current gambling monopoly system may be coming to an end. Finland moving to liberalize its online gambling market has provoked Norway political parties to renew calls for gambling regulation.

As of September 2023, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) insisted that switching from a monopoly system to a licensing model would not only bring it in line with other countries—Norway is the sole Scandinavian country to still have a gambling monopoly—but could also tackle issues around “consumers gambling with unlicensed sites.”

replace the current exclusive rights model with a licensed model to increase revenues”

Norway Conservatives published an election manifesto on September 9 that’s been backed by a committee of Conservative candidates made up of Magnus Mæland, Ola Svenneby, Tage Pettersen, and Anita Oterhals Eide. The policy states: “Replace the current exclusive rights model with a licensed model to increase revenues for the state and [provide] greater opportunities to help those who are struggling with problem gambling… Arrangements and framework conditions [can be] investigated based on the experiences from Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.”

Norway Conservatives stand ready to present their manifesto on September 8, 2025, when Norway will hold its next general election. The manifesto will first undergo a public consultation period before being edited for presentation to the national assembly, then finally being delivered for public consumption in the general election.

Concerns about gambling regulation are misguided

Norway’s monopoly system has its fair share of supporters, so it won’t come down without a fight. The Labor Party, with a small majority of 48 seats, supports the monopoly system alongside a coalition with the Center party, which provides an additional 28 seats. On the other side sits the Progress party—with 21 seats—and the Liberal party, which have both committed to reviewing current gambling regulations. The Liberal party stated in its manifesto for 2025 that it wants to “tackle gambling addiction.”

I am extremely optimistic this could be our time for a licensed gambling market.”

Carl Fredrik Stenstrøm, general-secretary for Norway’s gambling trade body Norsk Bransjeforening for Onlinespill (NBO), told iGB: “I am extremely optimistic this could be our time for a licensed gambling market. Everyone [in Norway] understands it is a matter of time before the market is liberalized. And we learned from Sweden that problem gambling did not increase when they regulated.”

Stenstrøm understands concerns that regulation could increase problem gambling, but he points to other countries like Sweden and Finland as proof that the concerns are misguided. As recently as 2021, Norway’s varied parties discussed ending the gambling monopoly, but they decided to maintain the status quo. Stenstrøm now believes that with multiple parties advocating to end the monopoly, it is likely Norway will finally see renewed regulation that brings it in line with other Scandinavian countries as soon as 2028.