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New Zealand’s license race drew 32 bidders for 15 licences as Blask Index falls 16% since June
The queue for a licence is long, while Blask Index has been falling since June.
New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs closed the expression of interest window for up to 15 online casino licences on 14 August 2026. The auction that followed attracted 32 bidders, according to the department.
Editor’s note (22 October 2026): an earlier version of this article, published on 28 September, said around 50 operators had submitted applications. That figure was an unconfirmed industry estimate published by iGaming Expert, and the filings were expressions of interest, not applications. The Department of Internal Affairs has since reported that the auction attracted 32 bidders. We have corrected the headline and text.
Those filings were the first stage of a three-stage process. An auction on 29 September 2026 will decide who may file a full application in October. From 1 December 2026, operators without a pending application must stop serving New Zealand.
The Online Casino Gambling Act 2026 is in force, with the licensed casino regime not expected to be fully operational until 2027. Sports and racing betting remain a TAB NZ monopoly, while online casino advertising is banned and no new unlicensed provider may enter during the transition.
Blask Index for New Zealand has fallen since June 2026. The June-to-August drop was –16.0%, with July to August the steeper month at –12.7%.
Over a full year the same series is down 8.7% YoY in August. Brand coverage did not thin with the drop: Blask tracked 160 brands in August 2026, versus 157 a year earlier.
Offshore brands held 83% of August search and 77.1% of New Zealand’s CEB.
Fifteen licences go to auction on 29 September, months before any of them can take live demand — into a search market that turned down after June, with the casino book those licences would cover sitting offshore.