Dima Dinants, iGaming Content Services
Authorities in Norway have proposed new regulations that will affect both online bingo and brick-and-mortar casino halls. Providers of bingo games to both physical venues and online sites will be required to register their games with the state to operate, as well as bingo halls registering to continue operation.
As well as requiring suppliers to ‘opt-in’ to registering games to offer them to the Norwegian market, the state has also presented restrictions that will directly affect players.
Online bingo & casino state monopoly
All gambling in Norway is operated under a state monopoly. The imposition of further regulation of the outlier in bingo is therefore less of a new development and more of an extension of oversight.
While bingo has sometimes fallen outside of the remit of the state-owned Norsk Tipping, with license applications open for some physical businesses, the new regulations look to bring it closer in line and ensure full state oversight.
Rather than an entirely new framework being introduced or a new licensed market being introduced, as is looking likely to be the case in Finland, this news sees the Norwegian authorities extending their reach and flexing their regulatory muscles.
All online bingo and physical machines to be registered
With no commercial casinos or betting outlets in Norway, it could seem unnecessary for the state to impose mandatory registration for game suppliers. However, these latest developments help to ensure that physical bingo halls fall in line with the state-owned operator Norsk Tipping by ensuring that all games provided are regulated. In a world where more games, even in physical venues, are becoming digital and internet-based, this is as important as ever.
At present, a physical bingo hall can host a digital bingo game that is not officially registered with the state authorities, meaning that there is something of a potential ‘blind spot’. While online bingo in Norway is controlled by the state, there is also a market of offshore sites and suppliers on the market. Registration will help the state to keep an eye on this and regulate accordingly.
Player protection is a priority
The second part of the outlined changes to the regulations around bingo is the introduction of loss-limiting measures for players. Players will be required to choose a limit for their losses and bingo halls will be obliged to assist.
All of this is a clear attempt by the Norwegian government to ensure that players are provided the most secure environment in which to play, with Lubna Jaffrey, Norway’s Culture & Equality Minister, saying: “Our gambling policy is based on the consideration of people who are in the risk zone for gambling addiction.”
Changes align with wider European trends
As much as Norway is notable for its regulatory differences in comparison with the rest of Europe, its push for greater player protection measures is one that is being seen across the continent. While their legislation and markets might be starkly different to one another, there is a concerted effort to put the public and users first in the gambling markets of Europe.
What does this mean for the state-monopoly model?
As mentioned, gambling is largely restricted to state entities such as Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto. However, could the fact that the government is providing stricter oversight of providers indicate the possibility of a highly regulated commercial market in the future?
The need to register digital bingo games and land-based bingo halls with the state is like the more commercial models seen in nations like the UK and Ireland, where independent entities operate under the supervision of the state’s gambling authorities. There is no indication that this is Norway’s plan at present. However, nearby nations could force their hand.
Finnish iGaming could be first domino to topple
The nations in this part of Europe have been almost alone in maintaining a state monopoly on gambling. However, this looks likely to change in the coming years, and one nation could begin the dismantling of an established model that had once looked untouchable.
Finland is beginning to introduce licensed gambling outside of its state monopoly and has set a January 2026 date for the introduction of competitive commercial gambling in the country.
Given that countries like Sweden have also begun to relinquish control in recent years, it seems only a matter of time before the rest of this monopoly enclave begins to follow suit.
If this does happen, it remains to be seen whether these newly proposed bingo regulations in Norway will remain in place or soon be replaced by something entirely new.
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