Open app Talk to sales
Resources
Open app Talk to sales
Back
  • Updated:
  • Published:

New Zealand seeks to pull $820M offshore online gambling market into onshore

The Department of Internal Affairs published the first official estimate of offshore online gambling spend as the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 comes into force.

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) estimates New Zealanders’ deposits into offshore online platforms at around $820M for the period from October 2023 to September 2025. The figure comes from a DOT Loves Data study commissioned by DIA, based on card transactions from one bank and extrapolated to the full market.

Monthly player spend has consistently exceeded $60M since March 2024. The active audience reached around 360K people by September 2025. The 15 largest merchants account for more than 82% of all spend, while offshore operators received 96.3% of that money.

The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 came into force on May 1, 2026. DIA will run a three-stage licensing process: expressions of interest, auction, and formal applications. The regulated market is expected to open on December 1, 2026, while unlicensed online casino operations will become illegal from June 1, 2027; sports betting remains outside the new licensing system.

Offshore operators hold 84% of search demand in New Zealand

Offshore demand is not only large, but structurally stable: over the period, offshore brands held around 84% of Blask Index, while the CEB split in September 2025 was almost the same: 86% offshore versus 14% onshore. In other words, search demand converts into revenue potential with almost no structural distortion. This matches DIA’s transaction data, where operators registered in Cyprus, Gibraltar, the United Kingdom, and Malta received 96.3% of player spend.

Blask Index in New Zealand. Local vs. international operators

Offshore demand is led by casino brands such as JackpotCity, Spin Casino, SpinBet, and Winz.io, while the onshore side is held by TAB (NZ), the only authorised online sports betting operator in New Zealand. This leaves TAB (NZ) structurally untouched: even after the new law takes effect, it will remain New Zealand’s monopoly operator for online sports betting, while the reform will only open a licensing route for online casino brands.

Read More

Cirsa posts record Q1 and signals its next major deal

Cirsa reported its best Q1 on record in 2026, with net profit up 85% and EBITDA tracking ahead of full-year guidance. The Spanish operator is now actively hunting its next major acquisition, with Western Europe and Latin America in its sights. We mapped its brand portfolio against Blask data to show where its digital operation actually stands.

UAE iGaming attracts institutional capital — regulation is the reason

Within 60 days, two separate $250 million commitments landed in UAE iGaming. Blackstone backed a payments platform. Yolo Investments opened a fund. The timing is not a coincidence — it tracks directly with the UAE’s regulatory build-out under the GCGRA. Blask data puts the market opportunity at a $1.9B CEB baseline, with the regulated segment still in its opening weeks.

Open app Talk to sales