Veikkaus launches Viabet brand in Finland and Denmark

Finland’s state-owned gambling operator Veikkaus announced plans to enter the international betting market with Viabet. The new brand will be launching in Finland and Denmark on 1 July 2027. The venture will operate through a commercial partnership with Viaplay Finland and Viaplay Denmark. The launch date is set with the opening of Finland’s online gambling market, ending Veikkaus’ monopoly in the sector. Veikkaus will partners with Viaplay to combine its gambling technology, customer experience capabilities and responsible gambling tools with Viaplay’s sports media assets and established Scandinavian presence. Veikkaus President and CEO Olli Sarekoski said: Viabet is a significant strategic step for Veikkaus and a concrete demonstration of how we are advancing our international growth ambitions. Through this partnership, we can build a differentiated offering, improve our competitiveness in the open market, and create a stronger foundation for scalable international consumer business based on Finnish expertise. The companies also plan to integrate selected Viaplay content into the betting offering, while Veikkaus will provide sports data and analytics to support Viaplay’s coverage. Mikael Svensson, CEO of Viaplay Finland, said: We already have a great partnership with Veikkaus in our Finnish sports production, and we look forward to expanding it through this new commercial agreement. We are proud to support Veikkaus’ ambitions for Viabet with our strong sports portfolio, production expertise and knowledge of the Finnish market. Jonas Reuter, Veikkaus’ Executive Vice President of International Business, added: The opening of the Finnish money gaming market creates a significant growth opportunity for Veikkaus. We see clear international demand for our expertise, and Viabet allows us to turn that expertise into a scalable consumer business in selected markets. This is an important next step in our international expansion. Veikkaus prepares for competition in Finland International operations of Veikkaus have been predominantly B2B with the only B2G customer being Fennica Gaming, a company providing technology services to the gaming industry in 21 countries. The launch of Viabet marks an important development for Veikkaus as it grows into consumer betting from B2B. The National Police Board of Finland has granted approvals for 12 out of 79 applications for online gambling licences that have been submitted so far, and there have been no rejected applications until now. Veikkaus has also applied for an online gambling licence but has not been included in the list of approved operators so far. The operator will keep monopoly on Finnish lotteries, scratch cards and land-based gaming machines.