Norway’s Progress Party reiterates call for gambling liberalisation ahead of election
The party will maintain its manifesto pledge to end the state monopoly on gambling.
Norway.- The Progress Party has reiterated its proposal to end Norway’s state monopoly on gambling ahead of the upcoming general election on September 8. MP Silje Hjemdal has highlighted the planned market liberalisation in neighbouring Finland as an additional impetus while again suggesting that Denmark’s regulated market should be a model.
Norway continues to allow only state-controlled Norsk Tipping and horseracing betting operator Norsk Rikstoto to offer gambling in the country. Despite the Progress Party’s stance, it still seems unlikely that this will change any time soon. The party is currently the country’s fourth largest political force in parliament. It presented gambling liberalisation as its stance ahead of the last general election in 2021 but has yet to convince sufficient MPs in other parties.
Some members of the Conservative Party, Høyre, such as Tage Pettersen, are in favour of opening the market to competition, but they have been unable to sway their party – currently Norway’s second biggest – to adopt the proposal as a manifesto pledge.
For now, Høyre remains committed to keeping the monopoly model. Norway’s regional governments and sports bodies have also campaigned in support of Norsk Tipping, citing the revenue it generates for sports initiatives. Nevertheless, industry lobbyists have said that bipartisan support for liberalisation is the highest it has ever been.
At an event organised by the industry association Norsk Bransjeforening for Onlinespill in May, Hjemdal, said Norway was becoming isolated. She said: “We are one of very, very few countries left that have this model. We must regulate better, and the way the model is today, there are actually very large sums of money that are sent out of the country every year, without going back to Norwegian sports or culture.”
However, the Norwegian gambling regulator Lottstift has highlighted a rise in the number of players gambling with the country’s two monopoly operators amid an apparent decline in unlicensed gaming with offshore operators. It credits its enforcement action against illegal offerings.
Player numbers at state-controlled Norsk Tipping rose by 11 per cent in 2024, reaching two million. Norway’s other monopoly gambling operator, Norsk Rikstoto, which traditionally focuses on horse racing betting, saw numbers rise by 5 per cent to 175,000.
Together, the two operators’ combined full-year revenue rose by 19 per cent year-on-year to NOK3.1bn (€262.1m). Meanwhile, the regulator estimated that revenue to the unlicensed market fell by 18 per cent to NOK1.3bn. It estimates that the unlicensed market accounted for a 22–28 per cent market share of “the riskiest online casino-style games” in 2024, down from 35 per cent in 2023.
The regulator has suggested that the decline shows the results of its actions to block access to illegal sites and payment providers and prevent advertising, which meant players had to use the state-approved offerings. In April, the Norwegian regulator announced blocking orders against 57 unlicensed websites. It has also been working with Google and Facebook to monitor and block the advertising of unlicensed offerings.
The government of neighbouring Finland expects to launch a competitive regulated gambling market by the start of 2027. The Finnish Gambling Act, which is currently going through parliament would see the state operator Veikkaus split in two, with one part of the business keeping its monopoly over lottery and retail sports betting and the other part competing with other online betting and casino operators.
