.svg)
Betsson has been returned to the payments blocklist in Finland after it failed in its Supreme Court challenge, marking the latest twist in an ongoing tussle with the country’s gambling regulator.
After first appearing and then swiftly disappearing from the National Police Board’s (NPB) payment blocking list, Betsson operating unit BML Group has once again seen its name added to the register.
BML Group is currently the only operator on the list.
In March of this year, several brand names associated with Betsson, including BML Group, were added to the list and then quickly removed pending a court challenge.
These initial entries to the blocklist came in the wake of Betsson losing its appeal at the Helsinki Administrative Court over a €2.4m fine it had received for marketing illegal gambling in Finland.
A spokesperson for the NPB told Vixio that it had been permitted to re-add the Betsson unit to the list after the Supreme Court rejected the operator’s latest legal challenge.
Betsson confirmed in an interim financial report issued earlier this year that it was appealing both the Administrative Court’s rejection of its advertising appeal and its presence on the blacklist to Finland’s Supreme Court.
“BML Group Limited has been added to the list because the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland did not grant BML Group leave to appeal in the matter. Accordingly, the marketing ban imposed on the company by the National Police Board has now entered into force and the company was therefore added to the payment transaction blocking list,” said Johanna Syväterä, a senior advisor at the NPB.
A representative from Betsson told Vixio that the company had “taken note of the developments”.
“At this time, we don’t have any further comments on this matter,” they said.
Finnish law prohibits a payment service provider from carrying out or initiating a payment with a gambling operator on its payments list.
However, the effectiveness of the NPB’s enforcement has been called into question.
In the wake of initially being added to the payment blocking list, several of the websites named by the police board had their terms and conditions changed to indicate that they were now operated by another Betsson unit, Rizk Nordic Limited. The brands had previously been operated by BML Group.
Back in March, when the switch took place, the NPB said: “We want to react to the situation quickly, correctly and fairly. Resources have been focused on solving the matter as quickly as possible, and new measures are possible at a fast pace.”
Finland is headed towards reform and the end of a gambling monopoly controlled by state-owned Veikkaus. The government expects to launch the new market in July 2026 and will begin accepting licence applications at least six months before that date.
Under the terms of the draft gambling act, companies subject to recent enforcement action will be barred from applying for a licence, but Betsson’s marketing fine is not expected to rule it out of contention, sources say.
However, as the market creeps closer to opening, there is a risk that as the police board turns its attention to other operators some will find their entry to the new market restricted.
“The Betsson/BML case has officially concluded, with BML set to remain on Finland's payment blocking list until 19 October 2025. This outcome stems from BML’s prolonged unauthorised operations in Finland and its subsequent defeat in the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court,” said Antti Koivula, a legal adviser with law firm Legal Gaming.
“While the resolution of this case unfolded as expected, the more intriguing question now is: who will be next to join BML on the blacklist,” he asked.
In its comments to Vixio, the NPB made it clear that additional sanctions are possible.
A company can only be added to the payments blocklist if it is found in violation of Finnish gambling advertising rules, the regulator said.
“Accordingly, the National Police Board cannot add any other company to the list than one whose gambling marketing it has prohibited. However, the National Police Board always has the option of starting a new administrative process against the company, should another gambling operator market gambling in violation of the Lotteries Act,” said Syväterä.
Additional reporting by Harrison Sayers
