the 15 available slots under the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBaytree Interactive, owned by Super Group, secured three rights to apply, the maximum allowed for a single operator. Meanwhile, Entain\u2019s subsidiary Playvia Gaming, Rock Swift Group, and SkyCity each secured two rights. Single licence rights were awarded to Christchurch Online NZ, One Casino, Rush Entertainment, Skill On Net, Stake New Zealand, and TAB New Zealand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Participation in the auction does not guarantee a final licence<\/strong>. The selected companies must now undergo a comprehensive evaluation process covering business plans, advertising strategies, consumer protection, and harm minimisation measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSuccessful applicants are expected to receive their three-year operating licences in early 2027<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOperators that failed to secure application rights or did not participate in the auction must cease all online casino operations in the country by 1 December 2026<\/strong>. Those moving forward with applications will be allowed to continue operating until final licensing decisions are made, though without advertising.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFrequently asked questions (FAQs)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n- How much does an online casino licence cost in New Zealand?<\/strong> The auction set the price at NZD15m (US$8.4m) per licence. The process offered 15 application slots.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Which companies secured the right to apply for New Zealand online casino licences?<\/strong> The 11 selected companies are Baytree Interactive, Playvia Gaming, Rock Swift Group, SkyCity, Christchurch Online NZ, One Casino, Rush Entertainment, Skill On Net, Stake New Zealand No1 and No2 and TAB New Zealand. The allocation of application rights varied by company.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- When will New Zealand issue online casino licences?<\/strong> Successful applicants are expected to receive three-year operating licences in early 2027 after completing the regulatory evaluation process.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- When must unsuccessful online casino operators leave New Zealand?<\/strong> Operators that did not participate in the auction or failed to secure application rights must cease online casino operations by December 1 2026. Selected applicants may continue operating while awaiting licensing decisions, but cannot advertise.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Super Group, Entain and SkyCity have secured application rights as unsuccessful operators face a December deadline to exit the market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777026996,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"New Zealand has concluded its online casino licence application rights auction, with 11 companies, including Super Group, Entain, and SkyCity, securing rights at NZD15m per slot. These successful bidders will undergo a comprehensive regulatory evaluation, with three-year operating licences expected in early 2027. Unsuccessful operators must cease all online casino operations in the market by December 1, 2026.","focusai_entities":"Super Group, Entain, SkyCity, Baytree Interactive, Playvia Gaming, Rock Swift Group, Christchurch Online NZ, One Casino, Rush Entertainment, Skill On Net, Stake New Zealand, TAB New Zealand, Department of Internal Affairs (DIA)","focusai_location":"New Zealand","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (1.0), affiliate_publisher (0.75), marketing_crm (0.7), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Licence Evaluation Criteria?","query":"What specific governance frameworks and consumer protection measures will the Department of Internal Affairs prioritize during the comprehensive evaluation phase for successful auction bidders?"},{"label":"Market Impact Analysis?","query":"How will the NZD15m per licence fee and the December 2026 market exit deadline for unsuccessful operators impact the gross gaming revenue (GGR) projections and competitive intensity of the newly regulated New Zealand iGaming market?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16336,24628,156,158],"tags":[25148,338,4138],"class_list":["post-777048559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australasia-news","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-regulation-news","category-slider-home","tag-licensing","tag-new-zealand","tag-online-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777048559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777048559"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777048559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777048569,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777048559\/revisions\/777048569"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777026996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777048559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777048559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777048559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}