The clock is ticking, and that’s because expressions of interest for New Zealand’s online casino licences close at 11.59pm on the 14th of August 2026, ending the first stage of the country’s move from an unregulated offshore market to a licensed regime.
Up to 15 licences are available under the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, and applications run through the government’s GETS procurement portal, with a non-refundable fee of NZ$19,000 to be paid to apply, and any applicant required to have at least NZ$7.5 million in capital.
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), which runs the process, has positioned the expression of interest (EOI) as a “filter” more than anything, and it’s during this stage that applicants must disclose ownership, management structures, and the platforms they intend to actually run. Each licence covers a single brand and is valid for up to three years, with the possibility of a further five-year renewal. No applicant is allowed to hold more than three licenses, either.
Only operators with an accepted EOI are allowed to advance. The next stage is a competitive auction that’s scheduled for September, after which successful bidders will be invited to submit their full licence applications from October, with the licences themselves expected to be issued in the first few months of 2027. A firm transition deadline also applies from the first of December 2026, which means only providers holding a licence or with an application already under consideration may continue serving Kiwi players. Now, sources differ on the exact “go-live” date, but the current DIA guidance and legal analysis point to licences being issued in early 2027, with the 1st of December 2026 date functioning as the compliance cutoff rather than the actual start of the market opening.
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Alex Smith