Entain, Stake, Betway Clear First Hurdle in NZ Licence Race
New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has named 11 companies cleared to apply for the country’s first regulated online casino licences, with the results announced on 13 October 2026. Among the winners are several operators familiar to UK players, including Entain, Stake and Super Group, the owner of Betway, alongside land-based incumbent SkyCity.
What’s actually changed
The results were announced on October 13 by the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), with the auction drawing 32 bidders and going on for 10 rounds before ending with a final price of NZD15 million ($8.4 million) per license.
That works out at roughly £6.6m for each right to apply, and the money buys only the chance to submit a full licence application, not a guaranteed place in the market.
The DIA noted that successful participation in the auction does not guarantee a licence will be granted, with all successful entities now required to proceed through a detailed application and assessment process before any licensing decisions are made.
Fifteen application rights were handed out among the 11 winners.
Baytree Interactive Limited, which trades as Betway, won three, the most any single operator could take, while Entain’s Playvia Gaming (NZ) Limited won two rights and TAB New Zealand won one more.
TAB is run by Entain under a 25-year sports betting partnership, giving the company three possible brands in total.
SkyCity secured rights to apply for two licences, while Stake, Christchurch Online NZ, One Casino, Rush Entertainment and Skill On Net each hold one.
The new regime replaces New Zealand’s previously unregulated online casino sector, where
concerns had grown that more than NZ$750 million annually flows from New Zealand players to offshore online casinos.
Under the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, licensed operators will face conditions covering
a business plan and marketing strategies as well as outlining consumer protection.
Those who miss the application window face being shut out entirely:
operators who have not applied for a licence by December 1 must cease their online casino offering
, though
those who have begun the application process will be granted an exemption while their application is assessed.
By June 2027, unlicensed operators will be strictly prohibited from serving New Zealand players, while licensed platforms will be subject to new mandatory consumer protections and advertising bans.
What it means for you
This is a New Zealand story, not a UK one, and it has no direct bearing on existing UK accounts, deposit limits or complaint rights. But the names involved will be recognisable to UK players. Entain’s UK brands include Ladbrokes and Coral, Super Group’s Betway operates under a UK Gambling Commission licence, and Stake previously built a large UK customer base before exiting the market here. Watching how these same groups now navigate a brand-new, fee-heavy licensing regime elsewhere gives a sense of the direction regulators worldwide are moving in: fewer licences, higher entry costs, and explicit upfront commitments on harm prevention and advertising before a firm is allowed to operate at all.
The bigger picture
New Zealand’s approach, capping the market at 15 licences and auctioning the right to apply, sits alongside a wider global pattern of jurisdictions tightening control over online gambling after years of unregulated offshore access. The emphasis on consumer protection plans and advertising restrictions before a licence is even granted echoes the priorities UK readers will recognise from the Gambling Act White Paper reforms: stake limits, affordability checks and stricter marketing rules. For operators like Entain, Stake and Betway, pursuing growth in newly regulated markets abroad offers an alternative route to expansion at a time when the UK’s own tax and compliance environment has become markedly tougher. Whether that strategy pays off depends on the next stage of New Zealand’s process, with full licensing decisions not expected until early 2027.
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