Gambling Regulatory Deadlines to Watch in February 2025

Each month, we leverage data from our gambling regulatory updates to bring you a glimpse of the key response deadlines and legislation effective dates coming up, so you can plan and take action around some of the most important regulatory developments unfolding right now.

In February, there are 5 regulatory deadlines on the horizon — with 1 key consultation period coming to an end and requiring a response, and 4 actionable deadlines to be aware of coming into effect.

What are the regulatory deadlines to watch in February?

Sweden

On February 1, 2025, the Swedish finance ministry’s proposed right for betting licensees to process personal data enters into force.

On November 29, 2024, the Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) published the parliament's decision to allow Swedish betting licensees to process personal data under certain circumstances.

The decision will allow licensed betting operators to process personal data if it is necessary to:

• Review a game for money in order to detect cheating, fraud and other criminal activity.
• Check and report abnormal playing patterns and suspicions of manipulation of results in sports with betting.
• Check and report if a player has participated in betting that is in violation of the sport's regulations on match-fixing.

Norway

On January 14, 2025, the Norwegian state-owned operator, Norsk Tipping, announced in a press release that it is lowering loss limits for young customers, as follows:

• NOK3,000 (approximately €256) per month for customers aged between 20 and 21 years old.
• NOK5,000 (approximately €427) per month for customers aged between 22 and 24 years old.

The new monthly loss limits take effect from February 1, 2025.

Finland

On February 4, 2025, the standstill period for a new Gambling Act in Finland ends.

Finland notified the European Commission of the draft proposal for a new Gambling Act on November 1, 2024. The draft law stipulates an open licensing regime for pari-mutuel betting on horse-racing, online betting and online casino and slot machine games. The validity of a licence is set at five years. Lottery type games, instant lotteries, gambling machines and casino games will be offered under an exclusive ten year licence granted to a state- controlled limited company. Gambling software suppliers will also require a licence, valid for five years and will be required to provide services to licensed operators only.

The proposed gambling tax is 22 percent of gross gambling revenue. Website blocking is to be introduced for unlicensed operators. The proposal also includes amendments to the Lottery Tax Act, Income Tax Act and the Criminal Code. Provisions within the proposed Gambling Act concerning licence applications are scheduled to enter into force at the beginning of 2026, while other provisions are intended to enter into force no later than January 1, 2027, when licensed gambling operations could start. According to the Ministry of Interior, the new draft law is to be submitted to parliament in the 2025 spring session, which commences on February 4.

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New York

On December 18, 2024, the New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding mobile sports wagering data collection. 

The amendments to Section 5330.29 of 9 NYCRR add reporting requirements for each mobile sports wagering skin, expanding on requirements already in place for each platform provider. Pursuant to the amendments, each skin must submit a report to the NYSGC on or before February 28th of each year, detailing for each mobile sports wagering account with such skin for the prior calendar year, various player data such as the total number of bets placed, the total amount wagered, and the duration of time spent on the platform, among other data points.

Amendments to Section 5330.37 of 9 NYCRR require that, prior to an authorized sports bettor placing a sports wager, the bettor must provide a valid zip code in addition to a physical residential address; a race and ethnicity, if voluntarily given; and gender, if voluntarily given. The provided information must be verified through the mobile sports wagering licensee's "know your customer" identity-verification software or other remote multi-factor authentication, before status as an authorized sports better may be confirmed. This requirement is already in place for licensees. The deadline to submit public comment to the NYSGC is February 16, 2025.

Spain

On November 15, 2024, Spain notified the European Commission of a draft decree amending Decree 217/2010 which regulates the Catalogue of Games and Bets of the Autonomous Community of Murcia and Decree 194/2010 on Bingo Regulations of Murcia.

The aim of the draft decree is to modernise the current regulatory framework for bingo in  Murcia and to introduce electronic bingo and electronic bingo halls in the region. The draft decree regulates in detail the technical requirements applicable to these new types of bingo games. The date of entry into force is the 20th day following publication of the draft decree in the official gazette of Murcia. Bingo halls with authorisations granted prior to this date will need to comply with the new requirements within one year. The standstill notification period ends on February 18, 2025.

We’ve only shown you a snapshot of February’s deadlines. Want to know more? Book a demo with a member of our team, who can show you the full Regulatory Deadlines Calendar for this month.