Veikkaus to Launch Viabet in Finland and Denmark With Viaplay From July 2027

Finland's state-owned gambling company will run a new brand built on Viaplay's sports content in its home market and in Denmark from 1 July 2027. It is Veikkaus's first consumer business outside Finland, and the announcement is silent on the licences the brand will need.

• Veikkaus will develop, own and operate Viabet, a gambling brand it plans to launch in Finland and Denmark on 1 July 2027 under a commercial agreement with Viaplay Denmark and Viaplay Finland
• Viaplay will contribute selected media content and Veikkaus will add sports data and analytics to Viaplay's coverage; no financial terms were disclosed
• The launch date is the day Finland opens online betting and casino to licensed competition, where the National Police Board had granted 12 licences from 79 applications as of 26 October
• Veikkaus applied in May for an exclusive licence and a competitive-market licence through two new subsidiaries, and has not said whether either has been granted
• The announcement does not mention a Danish licence, and Denmark's proposed ban on gambling ads around live sport would apply from the same day

Finland's Former Monopoly Turns to a Broadcaster for Its First Consumer Venture Abroad

Veikkaus said on 29 October that it had signed a commercial agreement with Viaplay Denmark and Viaplay Finland to launch Viabet, a new gaming brand that Veikkaus will develop, own and operate, in Finland and Denmark from 1 July 2027. Under the agreement, Veikkaus will combine agreed elements of Viaplay's selected media content with its own gaming, technology, customer experience and responsible play expertise, and its sports data and analytics will feed into Viaplay's sports coverage, according to the company.

The release does not list Viabet's products, though it frames the deal around sports betting, where it says content is key to customer appeal. No financial terms were disclosed. Olli Sarekoski, President and CEO of Veikkaus, called Viabet "a significant strategic step for Veikkaus" and said the partnership was "more than a single commercial agreement". Lars Bo Jeppesen, CEO of Viaplay Denmark, said the broadcaster looked forward to "making it a success from July 1st 2027", while Jonas Reuter, Executive Vice President, International Business at Veikkaus, described it as the next step in the company's international expansion.

The companies are existing partners: Intergame reported in February 2024 that Veikkaus and Viaplay Group had agreed a multi-year partnership spanning the Premier League and the NHL, and Mikael Svensson, CEO of Viaplay Finland, said in the new release that the companies already cooperate on Finnish sports production. Veikkaus's business abroad has so far been B2B: its subsidiary Fennica Gaming, set up in 2022, supplies customers in 21 countries, the company says.

Two Licences Viabet Will Need, and Neither Is Announced

The launch date is the day Finland's new Gambling Act opens betting, online casino and online bingo to licensed competition, while Veikkaus keeps its exclusive right to lottery games, scratch cards and physical slot machines and casino games, according to law firm Borenius. In its half-year report, Veikkaus said it set up two subsidiaries in May, one for exclusive operations and one for the competitive licence-based market, and submitted licence applications for both. It put the compensation for the ten-year exclusive licence at about €1 billion.

The Police Board told iGaming Business that by 26 October it had received 79 applications, granted 12 and rejected none. None of the 12 legal names it released is a Veikkaus company by name, the half-year report does not name either subsidiary, and the Viabet release does not say which entity will hold the Finnish licence for the brand.

In Denmark, a consumer-facing online gambling business needs a licence from the Danish Gambling Authority (Spillemyndigheden). The Veikkaus release does not mention one, and the authority's overview of licensed gambling operators was last updated on 20 August 2026. Fennica Gaming Ltd appears on Spillemyndigheden's separate list of licensed game suppliers, a licence to supply games to operators rather than to offer them to players.

Viabet Lets Veikkaus Compete Under a Name That Is Not Its Own

Veikkaus already has the brand recognition and customer database that iGaming Business has said should give it an advantage in Finland, so a second brand at home signals a wish to reach customers the state name does not. A Viaplay-linked brand also gives Veikkaus a recognisable identity in Denmark, where it has no consumer brand of its own. The cross-border logic has precedent among Nordic state-linked operators: Sweden's ATG trades in Denmark through 25syv as Bet25, where its net gaming revenue grew 45% in Swedish kronor in the third quarter, and its joint venture Hippos ATG is among Finland's first licensees. Veikkaus is now moving the other way, without the home advantage.

Denmark's Advertising Bill Lands on Launch Day

Bill L 37, tabled in the Folketing on 7 October, would ban gambling advertising on the channel carrying live sport from 10 minutes before the start until 10 minutes after the end, with its marketing provisions due to apply from 1 July 2027. That would test a betting brand built around a sports broadcaster's content on its first day, although stadium banners and shirt sponsorship would remain allowed and the bill had not passed a reading when iGaming Times last reported on it. How far Viabet can appear around Viaplay's live coverage will depend on the final text, and neither company has addressed the bill.

The Licences Will Decide Whether the Date Holds

Both launches depend on regulatory decisions Veikkaus has not disclosed. In Finland its competitive-market application, filed in May, sits among the 67 or so the Police Board had not decided by 26 October, assuming none was withdrawn. In Denmark, neither Veikkaus nor Viaplay has said whether an application has been made.

Viabet shows Veikkaus preparing to compete abroad as well as defend its home market. Until the licences behind the brand are public, 1 July 2027 is a target rather than a timetable.