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The Danish Gambling Authority has reopened applications for land-based casino licences, setting 3 November 2026 as the deadline for operators to file complete submissions with all supporting documentation.
Spillemyndigheden published the notice on 3 August. It is the first formal opening of the segment this year, and it covers both companies looking to enter Denmark’s retail casino market and existing holders whose permits are due for renewal.
Licences run for up to 10 years
The legal basis is Consolidated Act No. 1182 of 22 September 2025 on gambling, under which Spillemyndigheden can issue land-based casino licences for terms of up to 10 years. Applications that arrive after the November deadline will not be considered.
A 10-year ceiling sets the planning horizon for any operator modelling a venue build or refurbishment against the cost of entry. Fixed application windows have become the standard mechanism for allocating retail casino capacity in regulated markets, from Japan’s integrated resort application window for 2027 to European licensing rounds.
Every application goes to consultation
No decision is taken by the regulator alone. Each submission is circulated to several other public bodies for an opinion before Spillemyndigheden rules on it.
“All applications received will be sent for consultation to the local municipality, the local Chief of Police, the Ministry of Taxation, the Ministry of Business, and, where relevant, the Danish Maritime Authority,” Spillemyndigheden said.
The maritime regulator features because Denmark has previously licensed casino operations aboard ferries in service, alongside land venues. None of the seven active licences currently covers a vessel.
What the regulator weighs
The central test is whether an applicant can be expected to run a casino in a “fully professionally and financially responsible manner.” Spillemyndigheden splits that into two assessments.
The first is professional suitability, covering “whether the applicant has experience with offering gambling or is otherwise qualified to operate a land-based casino.” The second is financial standing, including “whether the applicant has sufficient liquidity, as operating a land-based casino involves significant expenses.”
Beyond those two tests, the regulator weighs geographical factors, the applicant’s existing or potential customer base, and the detailed project description filed with each application. Ownership structure and information on senior management also form part of the review.
Seven licences and a shrinking retail base
Denmark’s land-based casino sector currently comprises seven active licences, covering venues in Copenhagen S, Copenhagen V, Helsingør, Odense, Vejle, Aarhus and Aalborg. Spillemyndigheden had issued 1,970 licences across all gambling categories by the end of 2025.
The numbers underneath the licensing round are not flattering. Spillemyndigheden’s 2025 annual report, Spilmarkedet i tal 2025, put land-based casino gross gaming revenue at DKK378 million ($58.3 million) for the year, down 5.6% and worth 3% of Denmark’s total gambling market. Land-based bingo, newly liberalised, contributed DKK30 million, under 1% of the market.
Retail operators in licensed markets have spent the past year absorbing higher compliance and tax costs, a pattern tracked across the 2025 regulatory cycle. Elsewhere, regulators have used competitive rounds to add capacity rather than defend it, as in New York’s award of three downstate casino licences.
Online keeps taking share
Online casino remains Denmark’s largest vertical by a wide margin. Online casino GGR reached DKK4.31 billion ($646.5 million) in 2025, 38% of the total market, up 12.1% year-on-year and 139% above its 2012 level.
Spillemyndigheden noted that online gambling’s share of total GGR has risen every year since 2012 apart from 2022, while land-based GGR has fallen over the same period. The regulator said the overall rise in market GGR “is therefore driven by the rise in online gambling.”
The open question is who bids. A 10-year term and a market of five and a half million people give a serious operator something to model against, but the segment is contracting and the consultation process hands local municipalities and police a say in the outcome. Whether the round expands the market or simply moves the existing seven licences between owners will not be clear until after 3 November.
Source: Spillemyndigheden
