The new gaming law was discussed in Helsinki

Paf organised an event in Helsinki to discuss the upcoming gaming law in Finland. Participants heard the views of the State Secretary, members of parliament, the media, sports, experts and the gaming industry.

Paf organised an after-work event called “Åktoberfest” in Helsinki. The event was held in Epicenter, where Paf has its Helsinki office. The evening offered a packed programme and the first speaker was State Secretary Antti Salminen from the Ministry of the Interior, chairman of the steering group for the new law.

“The main task of the steering group is to produce a law that prevents gaming problems and at the same time promotes market channelling, it has not been easy to find a good balance,” says Antti Salminen.

“We have received many good comments and we particularly appreciate those who have thought about the big picture with concrete proposals. I would like to thank Paf for their well formed input, which also included a concrete proposal for a system that could improve the control of gaming and reporting to the authorities,” says Antti Salminen.

Five key points from Paf

Paf highlighted five key points that we would like Finnish policy makers and authorities to recognise and implement in the future.

“We will not get all the specifics we have argued for in the new law, but we will continue to argue for centralised deposit limits, for example, because we are convinced that this would make the gaming industry more sustainable,” says Sverker Skogberg, Senior Vice President Public Affairs at Paf.

The ketchup effect

Gaming advertising and visibility in public places, including sports arenas, were discussed several times on stage. The latest draft of the law allows gaming ads to be promoted relatively freely in all channels.

“I'm sure there will be a lively discussion about advertising in 2027 when the market opens up, but I think the media industry can keep advertising at an appropriate level,” says Suvi Aherto, Director Public Affairs at MTV.

“I don't believe that the gaming industry or the media industry can regulate themselves and keep the amount of advertising down, there could be a really bad ketchup effect with a lot of advertising,” says Riitta Matilainen, Head of the Problem Gambling Unit at Ehyt.

Five key points

• Finland should learn from the Dutch failure

The extensive gaming advertising will be hated and create a public opinion against the new gaming law.

• Introduce centralised deposit limits

We have a unique opportunity to introduce strong measures to strengthen responsible gambling.

• Keep affiliates & bonus offers within the regulation

Affiliates and bonus offers are part of all consumer businesses, without them the channelling to the licensed market is weakened.

• Build a strong and communicative supervisory authority

The gaming regulator must have a strong mandate and clear communication to both the gaming industry and the consumers.

• Don't let neighbouring Estonia's regulation become another Malta

If Estonia has a regulation that unconditionally favours foreign gaming companies, it will negatively affect Finland's channelling rate.