Denmark is heading for its biggest tightening of gambling rules since the market was liberalised in 2012, after a package of amendments to the Gambling Act cleared its European Commission review earlier this year and moved toward final adoption in parliament.
The proposals, known as Gambling Package 1, were notified to the European Commission on 13 January 2026, with the standstill period ending on 14 April. The amendments had already secured broad support across Denmark’s political parties in October, and the government is working toward an effective date of 1 January 2027.
The package covers both how licensed gambling is marketed in Denmark and how the games themselves are designed.
Advertising Faces a Whistle-to-Whistle Ban
The most consequential change for sports betting operators is a so-called whistle-to-whistle ban. TV advertising will be prohibited during live sports broadcasts, including the ten minutes before and after the broadcast. Live odds displays during broadcasts and inside stadiums at sporting events will also be banned.
The restrictions extend well beyond television. Gambling advertising will no longer be allowed on public transport or within 200 metres of schools, and operators will be barred from featuring anyone under the age of 25 in their marketing. Licensed operators will also be required to apply age filters to their advertising on social media platforms.
Denmark is not the first market to use the whistle-to-whistle formula. The UK industry adopted a similar measure voluntarily in 2019 through the Betting and Gaming Council’s advertising code. The Danish version goes further in two respects: it is written into law rather than self-imposed, and it pairs the broadcast ban with the in-stadia odds prohibition.
The Danish Ministry of Taxation has put a number on what this will cost the licensed market: the whistle-to-whistle ban alone is expected to reduce operator revenue by around DKK 25 million (€3.3 million) per year.
Bonus Limits and New Game Design Rules
Beyond advertising, the package reaches into product design. Online slot games will no longer be permitted to give players the illusion of a win when the payout is equal to or lower than the stake, a presentation technique often described as losses disguised as wins.
Welcome bonuses and VIP programmes face new restrictions as well. The bonus rules are likely to be the most visible change for players, because they will reshape the welcome offers that Denmark’s regulated operators currently compete on. Retail virtual sports games will additionally be subject to deposit and game speed limits.
The amendments also expand operators’ duty of care obligations, requiring licence holders to monitor customer behaviour more actively and intervene earlier when play patterns suggest harm. Denmark already operates ROFUS, the national self-exclusion register administered by the regulator, and the new obligations are designed to catch at-risk players well before they reach the point of excluding themselves.
Prediction Markets Brought Into Scope
The package addresses a question regulators across Europe have been circling in 2026: what to do about prediction markets. Denmark’s amendments bring event contracts on real-world outcomes within the scope of gambling regulation, following moves in the same direction by Spain, which blocked Polymarket and Kalshi over licensing earlier this year.
Spillemyndigheden, the Danish Gambling Authority, has spent recent years building out its enforcement record on anti-money laundering and illegal-site blocking. The new package hands the regulator a considerably wider rulebook to supervise from 2027.
Operators Have a Year to Adapt
With the standstill period closed and political agreement in place, Danish licence holders now face a compressed preparation window. Marketing teams will need to rebuild media plans around the broadcast restrictions, product teams must audit slot portfolios for the new presentation rules, and compliance functions will have to document expanded duty-of-care procedures before the rules take effect.
The licensed industry has not hidden its alarm. Morten Rønde, director of the Danish trade association Spillebranchen, described the sector as “shell shocked” by the package, telling iGaming Business that “advertising in Danish media is the only advantage that a licensed operator has. Because otherwise it’s just restrictions and taxation.” Rønde warned that squeezing the legal market too hard risks pushing consumers toward unlicensed sites.
Denmark has long been considered one of Europe’s more stable regulated markets, with a licensed-market share most jurisdictions envy. The 2027 package will test whether that stability holds when the licensed market’s most powerful acquisition tools, broadcast advertising and welcome bonuses, are dramatically curtailed at the same time.
