Finland’s gambling monopoly Veikkus, experiencing online and retail revenue declines, is rethinking the viability of the country’s existing gaming framework.
CEO Olli Sarekoski is concerned that the monopoly recorded a revenue decline of €515 million and a 5 percent drop in the digital market. This indicates that Finish consumers are playing outside of the monopoly’s boundaries.
Sarekoski warned in a statement: “Finland needs to start thinking about bringing all gambling under the same regulation,” adding that Veikkus, “operates in the current competitive digital market under different conditions than its competitors.”
Veikkaus Deputy CEO Velipekka Nummikoski added during an interview, “In Finland, we formally have an exclusive rights system, but if we look at digital gaming, Veikkaus’ market share is only half. You can already ask if we really have an exclusive system anymore.” The way to remedy this, he implied is to require competitors to operate under Finnish regulations. “Then everyone would work with the same rules of the game.”
Last year the government amended the Lotteries Act that included new banking regulations that block payment transactions to operators who operate outside of the monopoly system.
Some have suggested following the Swedish model through a new licensing system that would tax offshore operators. Others have suggested abandoning the monopoly system, which the ruling government party has rejected.
