What Does Denmark's 2026 Gambling Act Bill Change for Operators, and When?
Denmark's gambling bill, presented on October 7, 2026, phases in from January to October 2027: a live-sport ad ban from July 2027, a duty of care, and dice and wheel games online.
Denmark's gambling bill, presented to parliament on October 7, 2026 by Jakob Engel-Schmidt, Minister for Taxation and Growth, changes four things for licensed operators: how they market, how they pay affiliates, what duty of care they owe players, and which games an online casino licence covers. According to iGB's report of October 9, 2026, the government plans to phase the reforms in between January and October 2027, with the marketing restrictions, including a ban on gambling advertising around live sport, taking effect in July 2027. The bill re-submits L 127, which lapsed with the Danish general election; Morten Rønde, managing partner at Nordic Legal, told iGB its substance is unchanged, so the published text of L 127 is the working guide to what operators must change.
What changes, at a glance
| Area | What the bill text says | Timing |
|---|---|---|
| Live sport advertising | No marketing from 10 minutes before, during and until 10 minutes after the transmission of a live sports event; the ban also covers showing live odds at the venue where the event takes place | July 2027 |
| Who appears in ads | Marketing must not feature people under 25 | July 2027 (marketing restrictions) |
| Where ads may run | No marketing on public transport, or in public areas within 200 metres of schools and youth education institutions, measured from the institution's outer property boundary | July 2027 (marketing restrictions) |
| Affiliates and other third parties | Payment to a third party that markets gambling may not be based on the player's turnover, including winnings or losses | July 2027 (marketing restrictions) |
| Duty of care | Licence holders must monitor player behaviour and act promptly when a player shows signs of problem gambling | Phased, January to October 2027 |
| Online casino scope | Dice games and wheel of fortune games are added to the games an online casino licence covers | Phased, January to October 2027 |
| New game variants | Combination games and other variants require explicit approval from Spillemyndigheden, the Danish Gambling Authority | Phased, January to October 2027 |
| Enforcement | Without-court inspection powers for Spillemyndigheden; fines or up to one year in prison for aggravated unlicensed supply; marketing unlicensed gambling becomes an offence; fines scale with gross gaming revenue | Phased, January to October 2027 |
The government estimates in the bill that the live-sport advertising ban will cost the state DKK 15 million in 2027 and DKK 25 million a year after that, and that Spillemyndigheden will lose around DKK 1 to 2 million in fees, as reported by iGB.
What operators must change before July 2027
- Media plans around live sport. TV and streaming buys that sit inside the 10-minute window before, during or after a match have to move, and in-stadium live-odds displays end. Shirt sponsorship is not caught by the broadcast window, according to the bill's explanatory notes.
- Affiliate contracts. Revenue-share deals calculated on what players stake, win or lose do not fit the new wording. Fixed fees or cost-per-acquisition models need to replace them, and affiliate creative has to meet the same rules as the operator's own.
- Creative review. Every campaign needs an age check on the people it shows. The explanatory notes say an actor over 25 who is presented as, for example, a secondary-school pupil would still be caught.
- Out-of-home placement. Billboards and posters near schools and on or around public transport need a location audit against the 200-metre rule.
The duty of care, and where AI fits
The duty to monitor player behaviour and intervene promptly is the provision with the longest operational tail. A licence holder has to show not only that it watches play, but that it acts on signs of harm and checks whether the action worked. At the scale of a Danish online casino, that means automated behavioural models that flag risk in near real time, a documented intervention ladder, and a record of outcomes a regulator can audit. How these models work, and what explainability a regulator should expect, is covered in How does AI detect problem gambling behaviour?. Sweden's parallel tightening of self-exclusion is described in How does Sweden's 2026 Spelpaus rule affect operators?.
New games: dice and wheels
Adding dice games and wheel of fortune games to the online casino definition widens what Danish casino lobbies can offer, and it matters to suppliers of live game shows built around a wheel. At the same time, combination games and new variants will need Spillemyndigheden's explicit approval, so novel formats face a product-by-product gate. The differences between wheel-based game shows and real-event formats are set out in Live-camera betting vs live game shows.
Land-based changes in the same bill
The bill replaces the current manager ("bestyrer") approval system for land-based retail with new reseller ("forhandler") licences, requires gambling arcades to be physically separate and staffed during opening hours, bars under-18s from them, and limits slot machines and land-based bets on electronically simulated sports events in arcades to the hours between 07.00 and 24.00.
Sources
- Forslag til Lov om ændring af lov om spil, selskabsskatteloven og lov om afgifter af spil, L 127 (Retsinformation, PDF)
- Denmark gambling reforms to be implemented between January and October 2027 (iGB, October 9, 2026)
Last verified: October 12, 2026.