NZ Online Casino Licensing, EOI Window Just Closed, Here's What Happens Next

By Donna De Mesa, Updated: AUGUST 18, 2026

New Zealand's first licensed online casino regime clears its first hurdle. The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) opened applications for Expressions of Interest (EOI) on July 17, 2026, and that window closed on August 14. Up to 15 licences are up for grabs, with operators who submitted an EOI moving on to the next stage. An auction is expected in September.

For Kiwi players, this process decides which sites will be legally available from December onward. Here's how the three stages work, where things stand, which operators are bidding, and what changes for players once licensed casinos go live.

Why New Zealand Is Licensing Online Casinos Now

Until this year, New Zealand had no licensed domestic online casino market. Kiwis could legally gamble at offshore sites based in Malta, Curaçao, Gibraltar, and dozens of other jurisdictions, with no formal regulation covering player protections, dispute resolution, or tax obligations to New Zealand.

That changed with the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, which came into force on 1 May 2026. The Act authorises the Secretary for Internal Affairs to issue up to 15 online casino licences through a competitive process. The cap is deliberate. It allows enough operators for real competition, while staying few enough that the DIA can actually supervise them. Each licence covers a single casino brand, runs for up to three years with one possible five-year renewal, and no single entity can hold more than three.

Inland Revenue estimates the NZ online casino market at NZ$ 300 million to NZ$ 800 million a year, with some industry estimates suggesting the real figure is higher. That money has been flowing to offshore operators and out of New Zealand's tax base. Pulling it into a domestic framework is the whole point of the Act.

Three Stages, One Shot

The licensing process runs in three sequential stages, and there's no re-entry if you miss one.

Stage 1: Expression of Interest (now closed)

The DIA published its formal EOI notice on 16 July 2026, with the window opening the next day and running through 14 August 2026. An EOI isn't a full licence application. It's a suitability check. Operators had to submit:

Full name and physical address of the business and its officers
Background on the company and its leadership, including any history of regulatory breaches
Details of the community contributions they intend to make in New Zealand
A non-refundable fee of NZ$19,000 (excluding GST)

The fee alone likely filtered out the smaller Curaçao-licensed platforms currently taking NZ players. Most don't have the compliance history or documentation to clear an EOI review, and a non-refundable NZ$19,000 bet on passing isn't one every small operator will take.

The DIA hasn't published who submitted, and probably won't until the process wraps. We won't know who cleared this stage until the accepted EOI list feeds into the auction.

Stage 2: Auction (September 2026)

Operators who pass the EOI enter the auction, where the 15 spots are allocated. This is where the 15 spots actually get allocated. The DIA has confirmed it will run as an ascending clock auction, where every remaining bidder faces the same price at each step and decides whether to stay in or drop out as the price rises. It's designed to be transparent, with no sealed bids and no backroom negotiation. Because suitability was already checked at the EOI stage, the auction itself just decides who's willing to pay the most for the right to apply.

Stage 3: Licence Application (October–December 2026)

Winners of the auction move to a full licence application, including a business plan and detailed strategies for advertising, consumer protection, harm prevention, and compliance. The Secretary won't grant a licence unless convinced the operator can meet the requirements.

1 December 2026 is the hard deadline. Any operator that hasn't applied for a licence by then has to stop serving NZ players. Operators who did secure a spot and lodged a complete application can keep operating (without advertising) until their application is decided, or until 1 June 2027, whichever comes first.

Regulation Timeline at a Glance

Date	Milestone
1 May 2026	Online Casino Gambling Act comes into force
3 July 2026	Detailed regulations take effect
16–17 July 2026	EOI notified and opens
14 August 2026	EOI window closes
September 2026	Auction
October–November 2026	Formal licence applications
1 December 2026	Unlicensed operators must stop serving NZ players
1 January 2027	Online gambling duty increase takes effect
Early 2027	First licensed operators expected to go live
1 June 2027	Final cutoff for transitional arrangements

Who's Already Bidding

Two operators have publicly confirmed their intent.

Entain, the group behind Ladbrokes and Coral, has been the loudest advocate. During its FY25 earnings call in March, group CEO Stella David confirmed Entain is targeting three of the 15 licences, the maximum any single entity can hold. Andrew Vouris, CEO of Entain Australia and New Zealand, has pointed to the company's exclusive tie with TAB New Zealand as a real edge. It could end up the only operator offering both sports betting and online casino gaming under one brand. CFO Rob Wood told analysts Entain expects to capture up to half the market, which he sized at around £600 million. That's the pound-sterling figure Entain uses in its own investor reporting, roughly NZ$ 1.3 billion at current exchange rates,well above Inland Revenue's NZ$ 300-800 million estimate.

SkyCity Entertainment Group has also confirmed it plans to apply. CEO Jason Walbridge has welcomed the regulated framework, though SkyCity had lobbied for fewer licences and a domestic-operator preference earlier in the process and didn't get either. SkyCity currently runs its NZ-facing platform out of Malta.

888 Holdings, Bet365, Betway, and Christchurch Casino have come up as likely bidders in trade press coverage, but none of the four has confirmed it publicly. The DIA hasn't released a list of who submitted an EOI. The first real picture of who's actually in the race should come once the auction results land in September, or if a partial list leaks before then.

What Licensed Operators Have to Do

Winning a licence marks the start of obligations, not the end.

Player protection: Mandatory deposit, time, and spend limits. Self-exclusion tools, including an indefinite option. Monitoring for signs of problem gambling, with the ability to exclude a player for up to two years. A mandatory five-minute break after 60 minutes of continuous play, with pop-ups showing session time and losses.

Product restrictions: No autoplay. No running multiple pokies at once. No credit cards or buy-now-pay-later. One account per player per platform. Deposit method changes locked for 24 hours after you add one. If you're used to fast payout casinos, some withdrawal steps may look different under the new rules.

Advertising restrictions: No sponsorships, no celebrity endorsements, no affiliate marketing, no paid influencer deals. No broadcast ads within 30 minutes of live events, either side. No targeting under-18s or audiences where more than 20% are under 18. Harm-minimisation messaging is mandatory in every ad.

Fees and levies: A 16% online gambling duty (4% ring-fenced for community returns), a 3.5% quarterly levy on gambling profits, a 1.24% problem gambling levy, and 15% GST on payments from NZ residents. Quarterly and annual financial reporting is required.

Penalties: The DIA can issue formal warnings, enforceable undertakings, suspend or cancel a licence, and fine up to NZ$ 5 million per violation for a company, NZ$300,000 for an individual director or manager.

What Changes for Deposits and Withdrawals

The change most players will notice is payment methods. Licensed operators can't accept credit cards or buy-now-pay-later for gambling deposits, ruling out Visa and Mastercard credit functions.

The 24-hour lock on switching deposit methods matters too. Add a new payment method at a licensed casino and you're stuck with it until the next day. This is a harm-reduction rule, but for those who juggle multiple wallets across sites, it'll feel like friction.

POLi and Neosurf, both common with Kiwi players, will likely stay available, though operators still need to confirm accepted payment methods as part of their applications. One thing to flag. One thing to note: ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Kiwibank, and Westpac have warned customers against POLi on security grounds, so some licensed operators may skip it.

What Happens to Unlicensed Operators After 1 December 2026

From December 1, any online casino serving NZ players without a licence, and without an application under assessment, is operating illegally. That covers offshore platforms that skip the process entirely, and operators who submitted an EOI but didn't survive the auction.

Players aren't the ones breaking the law here. The DIA's enforcement powers target operators, not the people using them. But access will probably narrow in practice as responsible unlicensed operators geo-block NZ players on their own rather than risk enforcement. Ones that don't are looking at take-down notices, payment provider restrictions, and fines.

The DIA has already shown it's willing to use its powers before the December deadline hits. Several social media influencers have been fined for promoting unlicensed offshore casinos, and the regulator is working with platforms directly to pull down unauthorised gambling ads.

What to Watch For Next

The next real update comes in September, when the auction concludes and we get our first clear picture of who's still in the running. From there, licence applications run through October and November, and by 1 December every operator without a pending application has to stop serving NZ players.

If your current casino doesn't end up licensed, you'll have two options come December. You can move to one of the 15 licensed alternatives, or keep using an unlicensed site knowing it's operating outside NZ law with none of the DIA's player protections or dispute resolution behind it.

We'll keep this page updated through the auction and into the licence announcements. Bookmark it, along with our best NZ online casinos list, if you want the full picture as it lands.