66 percent in favor of existing system
A significant majority of Finnish adults want the country to maintain its current state-run monopoly on gaming, reported the news outlet YLE.fi.
According to YLE‘s website, more than two-thirds of those polled said they prefer the existing system, which sends profits to charities.
A clear majority of people in the country—66 percent—say they want the state-run gambling monopoly system to remain as it is. About 20 percent of respondents said they would like to end the monopoly and open the industry to commercial gaming operators. Most supporters of the existing regime were older females, while those who want to eradicate the monopoly were younger adult males.
People in Finland are among the most enthusiastic gamblers in the world. Finland was the fifth biggest gaming nation worldwide according to a study from H2 Gambling Capital, which was featured in the UK Economist in 2011.
Three firms control legal domestic gambling in Finland: RAY, the slot machine association that also runs casinos; Veikkaus, the national betting agency for lottery tickets and sports betting; and Finntoto, which oversees bets on horse races. Last year the three companies merged and retained their monopoly on legal gaming in the country.
An estimated 110,000 people in Finland, or 5 percent of the population, are thought to have gambling problems. But this group accounts for fully half the country’s gaming revenues of about $1 billion annually.
