Gambling Marketing Rules in Finland
From a Veikkaus-only marketing rule to limited licensed marketing from 1 July 2027
Last verified: 2026-09-28
Today only Veikkaus may market gambling in Mainland Finland, and the National Police Board actively polices affiliate and influencer marketing for foreign operators. From 1 July 2027, licensed companies get limited marketing rights subject to volume, content and social-media restrictions.
Gambling Marketing Rules in Finland
Overview
Under the current Lotteries Act, only Veikkaus may market gambling games in Mainland Finland; the Act defines marketing broadly enough to cover indirect promotion, so a hashtag naming a gambling company, a site logo, or commercial cooperation with an operator can all count as prohibited marketing by anyone else. A foreign gambling licence, a foreign domain, or servers based abroad do not create a right to market in Finland, and the National Police Board has repeatedly acted against affiliate and influencer marketing for foreign operators, including against social media influencers in September 2025.
From 1 July 2027, licensed companies may market gambling subject to limits: marketing must be moderate in volume, scope, visibility and repetition, must not target minors or vulnerable people, and must always show the age limit and where to find help for problem gambling. Prohibited content includes portraying gambling as desirable, an everyday activity, a way out of financial difficulty, or risk-free. Social media marketing is confined to a licence holder's own accounts (no influencer collaboration on the influencer's own account), telemarketing is always banned, direct marketing needs express consent, and outdoor marketing of higher-risk games such as online casino and betting is prohibited. Veikkaus follows largely the same rules for its exclusive-licence business, but still cannot market its physical slot machines or casino games outside the monitored venues themselves.
Current Lotteries Act marketing restriction to Veikkaus only. [1]
Marketing limits, prohibited content and social-media rules from 1 July 2027. [2]
National Police Board action against influencer marketing, September 2025. [3]
Key facts
-
Verified
A self-exclusion register will let a player exclude themselves from all licensed gambling games on a single platform; companies must also allow exclusion from specific games or game categories, a quick-stop feature will interrupt all gambling, and marketing may not be directed at people in the register.
-
Verified
Under the current Lotteries Act only Veikkaus may market gambling in Mainland Finland; marketing by other operators aimed at Mainland Finland is prohibited, including direct marketing, and a foreign gambling licence, a foreign country-code domain, or servers located abroad do not permit marketing in Mainland Finland.
Poliisihallitus (National Police Board), Valtioneuvosto / Finlex
-
Verified
The Lotteries Act defines marketing broadly as advertising, indirect advertising and other sales promotion, so examples such as a hashtag referring to a gambling company, showing a gambling site's logo or commercial cooperation with a gambling company can count as prohibited marketing.
Valtioneuvosto / Finlex, Poliisihallitus (National Police Board)
-
Verified
From 1 July 2027 marketing by licensed companies is permitted within limits: it must be moderate in volume, scope, visibility and repetition, must not target minors or other vulnerable persons, and must always state the age limit and where to get information on gambling management tools and help for problem gambling.
Sisäministeriö (Ministry of the Interior), Sisäministeriö (Ministry of the Interior)
-
Verified
Prohibited marketing includes portraying gambling as desirable or overly positive, as an everyday activity, as a solution to financial problems or an alternative to earning a living, or as harmless or risk-free; licence holders may provide bonus play money and similar extras only to a limited extent during the customer relationship, direct marketing needs express consent, and telemarketing is always prohibited.
-
Verified
On social media licence holders may market gambling only on their own websites and accounts and not interactively, which excludes commercial collaboration with influencers on the influencers' own accounts; outdoor marketing of higher-risk games such as online casinos and betting is prohibited (brand marketing is allowed but not near schools), and sponsorship is permitted but may not promote gambling games.
-
Verified
Marketing of the Veikkaus monopoly business will follow the same provisions as the competitive market with certain exceptions; Veikkaus still may not market physical slot machines and casino games or the venues where they are played, except within the monitored arcades and casinos.
-
Verified
Section 51 of the Gambling Act permits marketing of licensed gambling only through the channels it lists (own websites and social media accounts without consumer interaction, television and radio, sports and other public events, print media, points of sale, brand-term search-engine ads and, within limits, outdoor advertising); other marketing is prohibited. The Act does not use the words affiliate or influencer, and section 76 lets a marketing ban be directed at a natural person who markets gambling for financial or other benefit.
-
Verified
In September 2025 the National Police Board prohibited unlawful gambling marketing by two social media influencers and ordered one influencer to pay a previously imposed conditional fine after continuing despite a prohibition; the Board described the activity as affiliate marketing by gambling companies aimed at consumers in Mainland Finland.
Sources
- Poliisihallitus (National Police Board)Primary source — UKK: Rahapelien markkinointi ja laiton rahapelitoiminta — https://poliisi.fi/-/ukk-rahapelien-markkinointi-ja-laiton-rahapelitoiminta-haitari
- Sisäministeriö (Ministry of the Interior)Primary source — Questions and answers on gambling system reform — https://intermin.fi/en/projects/reform-of-the-gambling/questions-and-answers
- Valtioneuvosto (Finnish Government)Primary source — The National Police Board intervened again in the unlawful marketing of gambling by social media influencers (3 Sept 2025) — https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-/25235045/the-national-police-board-intervened-again-in-the-unlawful-marketing-of-gambling-by-social-media-influencers?languageId=fi_FI