Denmark ramps up unlicensed gambling fight, strikes app store partnerships

Denmark's gambling market saw a significant shift in 2025, with online casinos surpassing lotteries to become the largest sector for the first time. The country's regulator, Spillemyndigheden, published its annual report detailing a multi-pronged enforcement campaign that led to court-ordered blocks on 334 unlicensed websites targeting Danish players.

Enforcement and channelisation results

The regulator combined proactive web sweeps, data analysis, and public tip-offs to identify illegal operators. Collaboration with the Danish Tax Authority's anti-fraud unit flagged 695 sites for deeper scrutiny. Of those, courts confirmed 334 as offering gambling without a Danish licence, resulting in blocks. A further 36 sites voluntarily adjusted or removed their offerings after intervention. Spillemyndigheden stressed the increase in blocks was due to heightened surveillance, not an expanding black market. A full channelisation report is due later in 2026.

DNS blocking effectiveness and platform cooperation

After blocking 178 sites in June 2025, third-party traffic data showed an approximate 34% drop in visits over the following six months relative to the prior period. However, results varied, with some blocked domains showing no measurable decline. The regulator updated its agreement with Teleindustrien, the Danish ISP trade body, to allow dynamic blocking of mirror or clone sites without fresh court orders for each.

Spillemyndigheden also formalised complaint mechanisms with Apple and Google to speed removal of illicit gambling apps from Danish app stores. Licensed operators can now report brand misuse directly on Meta’s platforms, improving content removal response times.

New legislative powers under Spilpakke 1

A broad parliamentary majority passed the “Spilpakke 1” package in October 2025, strengthening protections for children and vulnerable players. The legislation explicitly empowers Spillemyndigheden to block referral and affiliate sites directing Danish users to unlicensed operators, and broadens prohibitions on facilitation activities. It also introduced a whistle-to-whistle ban on gambling ads during live sports broadcasts (starting 10 minutes before and ending 10 minutes after events).

Market data: online casino overtakes lotteries

Online gambling accounted for 73% of total GGR in 2025, up from 70% in 2024 and dramatically higher than 33% in 2012. Online casinos generated DKK4.31 billion (38% of total market GGR), a 12.1% year-on-year increase and more than double 2012 levels. Mobile devices drove 73% of online gambling revenue, compared to just 27% in 2012.

Land-based enforcement and trends

On the physical side, Spillemyndigheden participated in 25 investigations into unlawful installation or operation of gambling machines and betting terminals in 2025. Land-based casino GGR fell 5.6% to DKK378 million (3% of total market). Newly liberalised land-based bingo recorded a modest DKK30 million (less than 1%). The overall digital trend continued, with online casinos now the dominant segment.