Hippos ATG – the JV between Swedish horseracing operator ATG and the Finnish Trotting and Breeding Association, Suomen Hippos – has been granted a licence ahead of the Finland market going live on 1 July 2027.
The licence covers horserace betting, sports betting and online casino, Hippos ATG said in a statement.
The switch from a monopoly model with Veikkaus to a multi-licence system was initially scheduled for launch on 1 January 2026, but was delayed by 18 months in December 2025.
The Finnish National Police Board said in September it had received 75 licence applications since March.
Suomen Hippos CEO Mikael Bäcke said the firm JV was always “confident” it would be granted a licence and hailed it as a “significant moment”.
“We have worked hard to build a completely new company in Finland and its operating models from the ground up to comply with the requirements of the new Finnish legislation,” he said in a statement.
“After this excellent news, we can focus even more strongly on the products themselves and on finalising the operational entity.”
ATG and Suomen Hippos each hold a 50% stake in the JV, with profits distributed 60/40 in favour of Suomen Hippos.
Since the announcement of the operator in April 2025, Hippos ATG added Bäcke as CEO in June before onboarding Joonas Saha as chief commercial officer and Antti Koivula as chief compliance officer in August the same year.
Jussi Nurmi joined as COO last November.
Other operators expected to move into the regulated Finnish market include FDJ United, LeoVegas Group and Betsson.
In January 2026, BetCity founders Joey Singels and Melvin Bostelaar unveiled SuomiVeto with hopes of being operational in the market when it goes live.
Operators will be subject to a 22% tax rate, along with restrictions on marketing. The use of affiliates and social media influencers is not permitted.
Welcome bonuses are also not allowed.
In August, Paf CEO Christer Fahlstedt spoke to EGR about launch preparations and the risk of regulations creating an “unsustainable” market in Finland.
Veikkaus reported revenue of €471.3m for the first six months of 2026, powered by strong growth in the state-owned operator’s online segment.
The post Hippos ATG awarded Finland gambling licence first appeared on EGR Intel.
ATG’s Finland-facing JV with the country’s association for trotting and horse breeding to go live when commercial market opens on 1 July 2027
The post Hippos ATG awarded Finland gambling licence first appeared on EGR Intel.