Finland’s National Police Board has issued four prohibition decisions and six conditional fines this year for marketing gambling in breach of the Lotteries Act, and it says the campaign increasingly reaches streamers and influencers, not just operators.
The fines run up to €200,000 for individuals and €1.2 million for companies, and prohibition orders apply to people as well as businesses. Fines of €20,000 to €100,000 have already been ordered paid by individuals in 2026. The board announced the figures in a statement on its enforcement record on its own site.
Why streamers are in the frame
Juhani Wallinvirta, head of group at the board’s Gambling Administration, said promotional material for unlicensed gambling tends to be more common on social media platforms and livestreams, where influencers pull Finnish players toward offshore services. Under current law, only state-owned Veikkaus Oy may market gambling products in mainland Finland.
A conditional fine is a compliance tool rather than a penalty. Wallinvirta said payment is ordered only when a company or individual fails to comply with a prohibition decision within the specified time limit, and that the fine’s purpose is to ensure illegal marketing actually stops. “The imposition of a conditional fine may be considered necessary to ensure an immediate and effective end to the illegal marketing of gambling games.”
Both enforcement figures are higher than in previous years, according to the authority.
The clock to July 2027
The crackdown lands nine months before Finland ends the Veikkaus monopoly and opens a licensed online gambling market on July 1, 2027. The board had received 75 licence applications by September 22, up from 50 in June, with each licence costing €29,000.
For affiliates and streamers who work the Nordic market, the message is that marketing is the regulated activity, not an accessory to it: a person posting a promotional stream can carry a six-figure conditional fine on their own name, with no operator in between.
The largest company fine, €1.2 million against Estonian-licensed MagicPoro, was reportedly frozen by a Finnish court on October 9, so the board’s top-end penalty has yet to be tested.
