New Zealand’s online casino licence race is officially underway, and that’s because the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) opened the Expression of Interest (EOI) stage on Friday, 17 July. This gives prospective operators until 11:59 pm on 14 August to submit their submissions. Doing so is the first formal step towards a regulated market where up to 15 licenced online casinos will be allowed to operate within New Zealand.
The EOI window was publicly notified through the New Zealand Gazette on Thursday, 16 July, and it follows the Online Casino Gambling Regulations 2026, which came into force on 3 July.
EOI submissions go through the Government Electronic Tenders Service and carry a $19,000 fee, plus a minimum capital requirement of $7.5 million. Applicants also need to supply ownership structures, platform descriptions, credit reports, criminal clearances, disclosure of any prior regulatory breaches.
If an EOI is accepted, it unlocks the second stage of the process, which is a September auction of the 15 licences. This is going to be run as an “ascending clock” format, which means the price rises in steps until bidders withdraw, and this comes directly from the DIA.
Winners then file full licence applications from October onwards, with each licence set to cover a single grant and run for up to three years. It can also be renewed for another five years. No one operator may hold more than three licences.
When it comes to timing, the DIA says that operating restrictions on unlicensed providers will begin the first of December in 2026, with the licensing regime becoming fully operational in 2027. There’s still some confusion over whether licensed sites will take their first bets in December or early 2027. It looks like we’re still waiting for an exact launch date to be confirmed, but an advertising ban has already come into effect. No new platform providers are allowed to enter the market before the licensing framework begins.
Entain, which runs TAB NZ’s betting operations, has been the most upfront about its intentions: chief executive Stella David said in March that the group planned to apply for three licences – the maximum allowed – and Law firm True Legal’s direct Jarrod True also told one news outlet that the precise timeline appears deliberate, “prioritising an orderly transition and robust regulatory infrastructure” over speed to market.
For Kiwi players, nothing really changes immediately. We are now getting closer to a locally licensed, harm-minimization-focused online casino market that has properly begun. We will likely continue to see existing operators exiting the market, like we saw last week with SuperPartners.
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Alex Smith