TAB New Zealand Wins Right to Apply for Online Casino Licence

TAB New Zealand has secured the right to apply for one of the country's new online casino gambling licences, the Department of Internal Affairs confirmed, despite ministers previously indicating the government-controlled betting operator should sit outside the regime entirely.

TAB New Zealand was one of 11 entities named by the DIA as successful participants in the licence auction that ran from 29 September to 12 October 2026. The auction attracted 32 bidders and concluded after ten rounds, with the final price settling at NZ$15 million per licence.

Up to 15 licences will ultimately be available under New Zealand's new regulated online casino gambling regime, each covering a single brand and valid for up to three years, renewable for a further five. No single entity can hold more than three licences.

The DIA's own Cabinet material on the regime's design, proactively released in 2024, recorded that ministers 'indicated' Lotto NZ and TAB NZ 'should remain outside of the online casino regulatory regime because they already have their own regulatory systems that control what types of gambling they can offer', and that neither would require online licences for their existing operations.

'You indicated that you think Lotto NZ and TAB NZ should remain outside of the online casino regulatory regime because they already have their own regulatory systems that control what types of gambling they can offer,' the Cabinet material states.

That earlier position makes TAB New Zealand's appearance on the auction's winners list notable. TAB operates under a 25-year sports betting partnership with Entain, which itself won two rights to apply through its Playvia Gaming (NZ) Limited entity, one of which is understood to cover a licence pursued jointly with TAB.

TAB joins a winners list that also includes Entain and Stake, alongside Baytree Interactive Limited, Christchurch Online NZ Limited, One Casino Limited, Rock Swift Group Limited, Rush Entertainment Limited, Skill On Net Limited and two SkyCity entities bidding separately.

Winning the right to apply is not the same as being granted a licence. The DIA has stressed that successful auction participants must now proceed through a detailed application and assessment process, and that brands intending to operate under a licence will not be published until that process concludes.

The regulator estimates the regulated online casino market could be worth around $1.3 billion annually once fully operational. Licence applications are expected to open through October 2026, with operating restrictions on unlicensed providers applying from 1 December 2026 and the regime expected to be fully in place during 2027.

The outcome adds TAB New Zealand to a crowded field of operators, from Stake New Zealand to SkyCity's two bidding entities, all now working through the DIA's assessment process ahead of the restrictions taking effect.

The auction ran as an ascending clock auction, a format the DIA chose for its transparency: all bidders are offered the same price at each step and choose whether to stay in or withdraw, with the price rising in stages until demand matches the 15 licences on offer. The department said the approach was intended to give confidence that the final price reflected what bidders were genuinely willing to pay, rather than relying on sealed bids.

Online casino gambling advertising remains prohibited in New Zealand until the new licensing regime takes effect, and no new providers may enter the market in the meantime. Existing operators may continue trading under transitional provisions in the Online Casino Gambling Act while their applications are assessed.