New Zealand to Regulate Online Gambling

New Zealand is set to auction online casino licenses to foreign companies in February 2026. This is a major change in the country’s regulatory approach, and the first move to legalize and regulate online gambling.

Inevitably, local gambling companies are concerned about the global giants stepping in and dominating the market. This could also cost local communities, as the current regulations demand that a portion of the profits from the Lotto, TAB, and land-based casinos go to community grants. That will not be the case for the online casinos that get licenses in 2026.

Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said: “We don’t have a huge online gambling market, so I would expect (the bidders) will be mainly offshore providers.”

Player Protections More Important Than Revenue

The government insists the priority isn’t just to raise tax revenue, but also to form solid regulations that provide a safer gambling environment. It predicts that the new gambling regulations will bring in around $13 million in tax a year at first, but the priority is to bring online gambling in from the shadows to ensure proper player protections.

Local online gambling giants Sky City and TAB have campaigned to limit licenses to entities with a domestic presence to ensure profits are taxed within New Zealand and the country feels the benefit.

New Zealand has a population of just 5.223 million, despite being slightly larger than the UK with its 59 million people.The New Zealand online gambling market is estimated to be worth US $1.25 in 2024, and the major players might balk at establishing a permanent presence and business structure in the country to grab a slice of that action.

Without that caveat, it may be worth bidding on a license for the brand awareness and small bump in business on offer from the New Zealand market.