Entain and Stake Among 11 Winners in NZ$15m Online Casino Licence Auction

^{Auckland's skyline overlooks the Waitemata Harbour. New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs ran the online casino licence auction that cleared Entain, Stake and SkyCity to apply for licences. (Photo: 111emergency / Wikimedia Commons)}

New Zealand’s online casino licensing process has moved a step closer, with the Department of Internal Affairs confirming that 11 entities won the right to apply for a licence after a three-week auction. Entain, Stake and SkyCity are among the winners.

The auction ran from 29 September to 12 October 2026 and attracted 32 bidders chasing 15 available licences. It closed after ten rounds, with the final price reaching NZ$15 million (around US$8.4 million) per licence, according to the Department of Internal Affairs.

New Zealand is building a regulated online casino market from scratch under the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, and this auction was the second of three stages in that rollout. The result decides who can move on to a full licence application, not who gets to operate.

32 Bidders, 15 Licences, One Price

In its update, the department said the 11 successful entities secured a total of 15 'rights to apply', with some winning more than one. Baytree Interactive Limited, which operates Betway, took three rights. Playvia Gaming (NZ) Limited, linked to Entain, and Rock Swift Group Limited each secured two.

The remaining rights went to Christchurch Online NZ Limited, One Casino Limited, Rush Entertainment Limited, Skill On Net Limited, two SkyCity entities (SkyCity NZ Online NO1 and NO2), Stake New Zealand Limited and TAB New Zealand.

'Successful participation in the auction does not guarantee that a licence will be granted, and all successful entities must now proceed through a detailed application and assessment process before any licensing decisions are made,' the Department of Internal Affairs said in its public update.

The department has not published which consumer-facing brands will ultimately operate under each licence. That detail will only appear on its public licensee register once licences are formally granted, expected in early 2027.

A Deadline Already on the Calendar

Operators that have not applied for a licence by 1 December 2026 must stop operating in New Zealand altogether. Providers with an application still under review may keep trading, but without advertising, until the department reaches a decision.

The auction followed an expression-of-interest window that opened in March 2026, when bidders had to show access to at least NZ$7.5 million in capital and pay a non-refundable NZ$19,000 fee. The next and final stage, full licence approval, is expected to run through into 2027.

New Zealand has had no licensed online casino market until now, with residents instead placing bets with offshore operators that sit outside local tax and consumer-protection rules. The new licensing regime is designed to bring that spending onshore under operators the Department of Internal Affairs can actually regulate.

For SkyCity, already New Zealand's largest land-based casino operator, and Entain, which has been preparing its BlackRush brand for the local market, winning a right to apply keeps both in contention for one of the country's first regulated online casino licences. Full details of the auction, including the public register of licensees once granted, are available on the Department of Internal Affairs' own gambling licensing page.