Regulated
The Danish Gaming Act entered into force on 1 January 2012 and as from this date, any gambling operator satisfying the suitability criteria set out in the Gaming Act is able to apply for and be granted licences to offer online commercial gambling and/or betting to Danish consumers. No licence for B2B operations is currently available or necessary.

The Danish Gaming Act is a framework law, meaning that detailed requirements are found in secondary legislation. However, the Gaming Act is also a prohibitory law, which means that any gambling not explicitly included in the scope of the law (or an individual licence) will be prohibited.

There are two licences to obtain for online gambling: Online casino licence and betting licence.

Land-based lottery games are reserved for the state monopoly and/or charity organizations. For gambling operations, the relevant regulator is the Danish Gambling Authority (DGA). Within gambling, the DGA is also the regulatory authority when it comes to compliance with AML-legislation.

Market Size
In 2022, the total gross gaming revenue for the betting and online casino market amounted to 700 million EUR. As of January 2024, 43 companies are licensed to offer betting or online casino games to Danish consumers.

Localisation
It is a requirement under Danish law that money transfers in and out of a player account is executed through a payment provider with an EU/EEA License to facilitate such transfers. This means that basically all main payment methods are available on the Danish market. Largest exception is crypto currencies, which are currently not facilitated by the EU/EEA licensed payment providers.

The restrictions regarding marketing are focused entirely on form, targeting and content and does not exclude any particular marketing/advertising channel. Direct marketing requires very specific opt-in consent from the recipient, and these rules are enforced fiercely by the Danish Consumer Ombudsman’s office.

The DGA is very active enforcing the specific regulations on gambling marketing and in particularly the regulations regarding bonuses.

Top 5 Key Attractions and Challenges

Attractions

• Denmark has a well-established regulatory regime, and gambling authority, which to a large extent understands that the ability of the licensed operators to run a sustainable and profitable business is important to maintain the efficiency of the current model

• It is relatively easy and inexpensive to obtain a license in Denmark. It is a well proven licencing process, and the DGA has published templates and guidance that makes it a predictable process

• The channelisation is relatively high in Denmark. The actual number is disputed but ranges somewhere between 95% (DGA’s assessment) and approx. 85% (Industry Assessment)

• Very open product portfolio, open liquidity, betting not restricted to sporting events

• No limitation on number of license holders, always open to new applicants

Challenges

• Denmark has one of the highest living expenses in Europe
• It is a small market, with a small exotic language, although most Danes are comfortable doing business in English
• With a gambling duty of 28% of GGR (no deductions allowed on bonus money, free spins etc.) the tax in Denmark is relatively high
• The use of bonuses is becoming increasingly more restricted from a regulatory point of view

• Politically, the Gambling Industry is not in a great standing, and political debates suggesting to further restrict the industry is not a rare occurrence. However, most recent considerations and attempts to ban advertising seems to have been discarded for now