Norway’s largest opposition party has renewed its attack on the country’s gambling monopoly, arguing that the nation should look to emulate its Scandinavian cousins and open up the online market.
With Finland soon to shed its longtime gambling monopoly, Norway remains one of the few European nations to remain committed to a state-owned system.
This is despite years of conflict with Malta over what operators on the island maintain are grey market offerings into an EEA state that violates European free trade laws.
While the efficacy of that argument may have waned in light of recent judgements by the Court of Justice of the European Union, Norway’s internal politics have never been more hostile to Norsk Tipping.
The Progress Party made it part of their manifesto during last year’s election to dismantle the monopoly and open the Norwegian market to private operators.
Despite making record gains, the right-wing party failed to win enough votes to take control of Norway’s parliament, becoming the main opposition to a minority government run by the Labour Party, however it has since overtaken Labour in opinion polls
It has also not abandoned its dislike for Norway’s existing gambling regulations and, via a recent opinion column penned by Progress Party politician Silje Hjemdal, is renewing its attacks on the monopoly.
A sporting chance
Hjemdal is seeking to counter one of the main arguments for keeping Norsk Tipping in place – its contributions to sports and good causes more generally.
With Norway’s men’s football team having reached the World Cup quarter final for the first time ever this Summer, the 1.6bn kroner (€146m) that the state-owned gambling operator has contributed to football facilities since 2022 is being lauded in some quarters.
Hjemdal argues that fears that this money will vanish from the sport “has no basis in reality”.
Instead she argues that Norsk Tipping should be allowed to keep its control of the lottery market, thereby securing most of its existing profits, while tax revenues from private companies can be ringfenced for good causes.
“There will be at least as many football fields … as before. There could soon be more,” she said.
New ideas
Hjemdal’s plea comes as she says that 9 percent of Norway’s entire bet on the country’s World Cup semi final against England, but notes that many would have done so offshore.
Instead, she said the country should look to emulate the transformations that took place in Sweden and Denmark, where private operators are licensed and compete with former monopoly providers who remain under state control.
Norwegian authorities claim that around 31% of Norway’s online gambling takes place offshore. This is contested by some economists, who estimate the figure is actually already higher than 50%.
Requiring Norwegians to gamble with only Norsk Tipping, or parimutuel horserace betting provider Rikstoto, amounts to a limitation on personal freedoms, said Hjemdal
The Progress Party politician added that the state uses methods akin to the Chinese government by blocking websites and banking transactions to the private online gambling market.
By switching to a Danish or Swedish-style system with modern player protection provisions, Norway would be better served, she says.
“In Sweden, the proportion of problem gamblers did not increase after liberalization in 2019. The problem is far more complex than a simple question of one or more providers,” she wrote.
A brewing conflict
Norway’s next general election is not scheduled until 2029, but in the wake of last September’s vote, the Progress Party has continued to surge in the polls.
The right wing party is now tracking almost eight points higher than the ruling Labour Party, which has seen its public support collapse in the period since last year’s election.
This momentum reflects a general trend in Norwegian politics, which has much more to do with larger social issues, rather than solely the gambling monopoly, but still presents an opportunity for enemies of the state-owned model.
After many years of appearing to have no hope of opening the online market, advocates for the international gambling industry are growing in confidence.
A series of scandals has also afflicted Norsk Tipping in recent years, including a damning KPMG audit that found the state-owned operator had underestimated the potential for failure in its technology and did not have the technical know-how to properly manage its systems.
In August, 2025 the operator was forced to pay a fine of 46m kroner (€4.2m) for a series of lottery draw errors affecting millions of gamblers over several years.
The scandal has led to an ongoing class action against the lottery operator which now has more than 17,000 registered parties.
Despite this, institutional support for Norsk Tipping remains.
The head of national gambling regulator Lottstift, Atle Hamar, is a longtime advocate of the monopoly model and a public critic of the Maltese online gambling sector.
Meanwhile the ruling Labour Party, which currently governs with a minority in parliament, is an avowed supporter of the gambling status quo.
Its manifesto includes a pledge to “preserve and protect Norsk Tipping’s exclusive rights”, setting up a dramatic confrontation with the Progress Party in the years ahead.
