New Zealand Opens Online Casino Licence Race — and the Biggest Names Are Already Lining Up

Key Points

• The Department of Internal Affairs opened expressions of interest on 17 July, with a deadline of 14 August and a non-refundable NZ$19,000 filing fee.
• Up to 15 brand-specific licences will be auctioned in September, with market launch targeted for December 2026.
• Entain, SkyCity, bet365, evoke, Super Group, SpinBet and Spin City have all signalled interest; no operator has yet confirmed a formal application.

The Starting Gun Has Fired

New Zealand’s online casino licensing process is now live. On 17 July, the Department of Internal Affairs began accepting expressions of interest from operators seeking one of up to 15 licences to serve the country’s regulated online casino market. The window runs until 14 August. Operators must file through the Government Electronic Tender Service and pay a non-refundable NZ$19,000 fee to participate.

That fee is not symbolic. It signals a process designed to filter serious applicants from exploratory ones. Accepted candidates will advance to an auction scheduled for September, followed by full licence applications from October. The government has set a planned market launch for the beginning of December, a timeline that leaves very little room for delays at any stage.

What the Calendar Actually Demands?

The sequence is tight by any regulatory standard. Expressions of interest close 14 August. The September auction determines who gets to apply. October brings formal applications; December marks the target launch date. Each stage gates the next, which means operators who miss the EOI window are locked out entirely.

Authorised sites will have to go live within 90 days of receiving their licence and will have to operate for not less than 270 days in each of the 12 months. The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, which came into effect on 1 May, is the first ever domestic licensing legislation for the country and serves as the legal backbone of the entire process.

A Market Worth NZ$1.36 Billion That Nobody Regulated

The size of what regulators are attempting to bring onshore is significant. Department-commissioned research estimated NZ$1.36 billion in overseas online gambling card deposits last year through September, measuring deposits across casino, hybrid casino-sportsbook, sports betting and overseas lottery operators.

Casino-only brands represented 14% of that figure. Hybrid operators, many of them heavily weighted towards casino games, accounted for another 77%. Earlier Inland Revenue data recorded NZ$342.5 million in reported revenue from compliant offshore operators during the year to June 2023. Officials acknowledged that total excluded operators which had not registered to pay New Zealand’s Goods and Services Tax.

The gap between what offshore operators collected and what reached New Zealand’s tax system is precisely what the new regime intends to close.

The Operators Already Circling

Several of the industry’s larger names have been positioned around this market for some time. Entain, SkyCity, bet365, evoke, Super Group, SpinBet and Spin City have all publicly signalled interest in New Zealand’s regulated online casino market. No operator has yet confirmed submitting a formal application, but the EOI process beginning today is the first step where intent converts to commitment.

Entain’s position is the most declarative. The company has stated it wants the maximum three licences, targeting a 50% market share in a market where it already operates as the exclusive provider of online sports and racing betting through TAB NZ. Andrew Vouris, Entain’s head of Australian and New Zealand operations, put it plainly: “We’re going to be the only operator in the market that’s able to offer sports, racing, and potentially casinos. That is massive.”

SkyCity has framed domestic licensing as a strategic priority, not simply an opportunity. The company currently runs its New Zealand-facing online platform out of Malta, and SkyCity CEO Jason Walbridge has consistently described the regulated market as something SkyCity had been preparing for since its entry into online in 2019. “Online was a natural extension of SkyCity’s land-based gaming offering when we entered the online market in 2019. We did this to build capability early, with a view that, when regulation was introduced in New Zealand, SkyCity would be well placed to participate responsibly.”

What a Licence Actually Covers?

The government will issue no more than 15 brand-specific licences. One company can control no more than three, meaning the full allocation could sit with as few as five operators. There needs to be at least NZ$7.5 million available in capital for applicants, while each licence is granted for three years but can be renewed after five years.

Allowed game types include slots, blackjack, roulette, peer-to-peer poker, and simulated sport events. On the other hand, TAB NZ remains the monopoly for traditional sports and racing betting, which is further clarified by the Racing Industry Act amendments from 28 June 2025. Operators that do not apply must exit the market by 1 December. Pending applicants may continue operating without advertising while the Department considers their cases.

The 15-brand cap may not dramatically reshape market concentration. Government data shows the 15 largest registered offshore entities already generated 99.8% of reported gross gambling revenue, with the top five responsible for 89.6%. Regulation, in that sense, largely formalises an existing structure rather than fragmenting it.

The Tax Structure and What Happens to Unlicensed Operators

Licensed operators will pay GST, gambling duty and regulatory levies. The offshore gambling duty climbs from 12% to 16% on 1 January 2027. The additional four percentage points will flow through the Lottery Grants Board. The government expects NZ$10 million to NZ$20 million for community groups during the first year.

For those who stay out of the licensed system, the consequences are substantial. Unlicensed companies face enforcement measures including geoblocking and financial penalties reaching NZ$5 million. Gambling with an unlicensed operator will not itself be an offence for players, which makes enforcement against offshore companies, payment access and geo-blocking the real instruments of the regime.

Trina Lowry, Programme Director for the Online Gambling Implementation, said earlier this year that engaging early with potential applicants would help shape a regulatory system that is “clear, efficient and supportive for operators.” The EOI window opening today is the moment that principle meets practice.

Officials have acknowledged that some black-market activity will remain regardless. Whether the enforcement toolkit, including geo-blocking, payment disruption and NZ$5 million penalties, proves sufficient to shrink that residual market is a question the December launch will begin to answer.

Expert Analysis

New Zealand’s licensing process opening today is less a grand regulatory debut than a test of whether the country’s tightly designed framework can actually deliver what it promises. The market is real; NZ$1.36 billion in offshore deposits last year makes that clear. The operators are ready; Entain, SkyCity, bet365 and others have been positioning for this moment since the Online Casino Gambling Act passed in May. The calendar is demanding, with auction in September and launch in December, which leaves almost no tolerance for procedural delays.

What the regime cannot yet answer is the enforcement question. Players face no penalty for gambling with unlicensed operators, so the licensed market wins only if it is measurably safer, more trusted and more accessible than what remains offshore. Jarrod True, Director of speciality gambling law practice True Legal, said early in the process that “if New Zealand can demonstrate that a large grey-market online spend can be channelled into a licensed regime, reduce black-market activity, introduce a new community-funding stream and apply robust harm-minimisation measures, it will create a template that other APAC regulators can adapt.” That case is now being made in real time.