Influencer marketing is one of the areas where gambling companies need particular caution when preparing for Finland’s licensed market. The current system has already produced enforcement cases involving gambling promotion by streamers and social-media influencers, and the new Gambling Act does not create a general right to run conventional paid influencer campaigns.
The licensed market begins on 1 July 2027. From that date, licence holders may market gambling only under the conditions and through the channels listed in Chapter 4 of the Gambling Act.
Why normal influencer advertising is not a safe default
The Act lists the channels in which gambling marketing is permitted and states that other gambling marketing is prohibited. An operator may use its own social-media accounts only when the marketing is not interactive with consumers. Third-party influencer social-media promotion is not listed as a general permitted channel.
For that reason, a standard influencer campaign in which a creator promotes a casino, posts referral links, demonstrates gambling or encourages followers to register should not be assumed to be permitted after July 2027. Each format needs a channel-by-channel legal assessment.
Influencer activity and sponsorship are different
The Gambling Act separately regulates sponsorship. Sponsorship agreements may involve adult individuals, organisations, teams or events, but the operator must not use sponsorship to highlight its gambling games. Sponsorship involving minors or events aimed at minors is prohibited, and an operator’s name or logo must not appear on products or services specifically intended for minors.
This makes it important to distinguish brand sponsorship from influencer advertising. A sponsorship relationship does not automatically permit the sponsored person to publish promotional gambling content in social media.
Marketing must remain moderate
All permitted gambling marketing must be moderate in amount, scale, visibility and frequency. Marketing cannot target minors or vulnerable people, exaggerate winning opportunities, depict gambling as a route to financial improvement or present gambling as a harmless everyday activity.
- Do not assume that a Finnish gambling licence permits ordinary influencer advertising.
- Separate sponsorship rights from promotional-content rights.
- Exclude minors and youth-oriented events, channels and products.
- Review the total visibility and frequency of campaigns, not only individual posts.
- Include the statutory age, licence, regulator and safer-gambling information where marketing is permitted.
What brands can prepare now
Before July 2027, operators can build internal policies, creator due-diligence procedures, sponsorship templates and review workflows without directing gambling promotion at Finnish consumers. This preparation is especially useful for international brands whose existing influencer programmes may not fit Finland’s narrower channel rules.
See also gambling sponsorship in Finland, Finland’s advertising rules and our Finland 2027 marketing hub.
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