Almost 3 years ago, a stop or cooling-off period was put in place by The New Zealand Gaming Authority for the admission of online casinos. since October 2021, licenses have been handed out for new parties that have a online casino games can enter the New Zealand market. However, the application for these licenses had already been made a lot earlier. After the first casinos were admitted to the process of license application, a stop was set until april 2023.
This period was established so that the government could better channel and monitor the influx of new casinos. From 1 april, however, it will be looked at who can now be admitted to The New Zealand market. It is taken into account whether the applicants for the license have admitted New Zealand players to their online casinos in the meantime. if so, the online casinos have acted illegally and they may not qualify for a license. This will also take into account how the parties concerned have behaved in the past when no licences were issued for the New Zealand market at all.
Among others, the Kindred Group with Unibet, LeoVegas and Bettson were casinos that decided to no longer serve the New Zealand market until they have obtained a license from The New Zealand Gambling Authority. The ban on New Zealand players has already cost Betsson $2.5 million.
