Danish Regulator Disowns 93% Channelisation Rate and Targets Big Tech Plus Banks to Curb Illegal Gambling

Anders Dorph, head of Denmark’s Spillemyndigheden, has disowned the 93% channelisation rate long used to showcase the success of the country’s licensed online gambling market. Speaking at a SiGMA panel, Dorph said the figure “isn’t really true any longer,” citing improved measurement that now accounts for crypto casinos and affiliate traffic.

H2 Gambling Capital estimates licensed firms now capture 78% of Danish gambling, while the regulator’s web-traffic data shows 82%. A Spillemyndigheden survey found only 6-7% of gamblers use illegal sites, “But they are heavy players. We have to wake up and do something serious about it,” Dorph said. The comments, first reported by iGaming Business, highlight that even well-regulated markets face persistent black-market leakage.

Pressure on Big Tech and Payment Providers

Dorph argued regulators must move beyond operators to the platforms that make illegal sites visible and paid. “You never see an illegal gambling ad on television, but on social media they’re everywhere,” he said. He has held talks with Meta since May and with Google, pressing for scaled filtering. “It’s really important that we do something about big tech, that we get hold of them, and that we get hold of the payment service providers, and get cooperation going across Europe.”

Even modest payment blocking could prove effective, Dorph noted: “If we could block even 10% of the revenue, illegal operators would face a real risk of not getting paid.” DNS blocks reduce site activity despite easy circumvention. Around one in ten Danish players cannot tell whether a site is legal.

European Regulators Share the Strain

The issue extends across jurisdictions. Jānis Ungurs of Latvia’s State Revenue Service blocks around 4,500 web pages yet sees new domains appear daily; H2 estimates one fifth of Latvian online gambling is illegal. “We feel very alone,” Ungurs said. Bulgaria’s Petya Sergeeva Kamenska described self-excluded players reaching illegal sites via VPNs and noted her agency is advancing payment blocks with the central bank.

Pierre Tournier, interim secretary-general of the European Gaming and Betting Association, told iGB the EU has “explored all the available legal avenues” and should now target licensed platforms and payment firms that enable illegal operators based outside the bloc. EGBA is pressing DG CONNECT, DG GROW and anti-money laundering rules while gathering evidence on platform exploitation, including AI use.

Regulators are converging on obstruction tactics aimed at visibility and payment flows rather than hoping licensing alone will suffice.