Denmark liberalises land-based bingo market

Land-based bingo providers now have a new European jurisdiction to operate in, as Denmark formalised and enforced its new bingo framework last week. 

Licence applications are now open for anyone looking to position its land-based bingo offering into the new market, with those who are accepted looking at a launch date as early as 1 January 2025 – if they apply no later than 10 December. 

Applications must be filled in correctly and accompanied by all required attachments to be considered for the early launch. 

If the Danish gambling authority, Spillemyndigheden, sees the need for more clarity around a certain application, it can issue a special case licence, with a hard deadline given to the applicant to fulfil the special conditions. 

Each application has a fee of DKK 20,000 (£2.3k), which must be paid with the submission. One licence will last for five years, with an additional DKK 10,000 (£1.1k) charge to renew it.

Annual fees will be calculated based on the bingo provider’s taxable Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) over one year. 

The application form will only be viable if it is filled by a company’s executive board members, all partnering stakeholders, and a company representative working in Denmark if the business is not domiciled in an EU member state nor a nation from the European Economic Area.

Other requirements for a licence are that the company has no ongoing debt to the public sector and that all company criminal records and debt declarations are submitted to Spillemyndigheden for an assessment. 

Spillemyndigheden also retains the right to directly request the resignation of a person from a licensed company if they hold a criminal offence conviction that carries over the potential for abuse when accessing work with games. 

The gambling regulator will hold an information meeting on 5 December to provide shareholders with further clarification regarding the application process.