Norway

How the market works

Norway reserves gambling to two state-controlled operators and offers no commercial licensing route. What makes it distinctive is enforcement. Payment blocking obliges banks to refuse transactions identified as going to gambling operators, and DNS blocking of named sites was added when the gambling legislation was consolidated in 2022. The authority also acts against marketing directed at Norwegians, including television advertising transmitted from outside the country.

The Norwegian position is the clearest counter-example to the argument that monopolies cannot be maintained online. Offshore play has not been eliminated, but Norway has demonstrated that a determined regulator can raise the friction considerably, and its measures are cited both by those who advocate licensing and by those who oppose it.

For an operator, Norway is not a market to enter. It is a jurisdiction to understand, because its enforcement toolkit is the one other monopoly states look to.

Who regulates it

Lotteritilsynet (Lotteritilsynet), based in Førde and operating under Gambling Act 2022. The Norwegian authority defending a two-operator monopoly with payment and website blocking.

Licence types issued

• None for commercial online gambling: two state operators hold exclusive rights

Full profile of the Lotteritilsynet