Danes are spending more to gamble, with physical casinos significantly trailing behind online gambling.
According to the latest data for April released by Danish regulator Spillemyndigheden, players have spent a total of DKK 680m (£78.5m) in April, a 2.3% YoY increase from the same period in 2025.
Divided into segments, online gambling remains the top growing vertical, with total money spent in April coming in at DKK 392m. This constitutes a 18.4% increase – the biggest YoY difference compared to all other verticals.
The second-largest growth came in from land-based bingo, with a 17% YoY difference. However, this remains the smallest revenue driver so far, with only DKK 3m generated for the month of April.
Slot and gaming machines saw a far modest growth, coming in at a total of DKK 96m for a 2.8% YoY difference. Meanwhile, the market share of land-based casinos shrunk by a significant -8.3% YoY, generating a spend of 28m krone.
The most visible takeaway, however, remains betting. While money generated from wagers in April brought in a total of 161m krone, the volume dropped down noticeably by -22.5% YoY. This decline could either be explained with a slowdown in the sporting calendar, or a frustration among Danish fans that their home country failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup.
Still, it would be interesting to see how the domestic market performs with a more comprehensive data breakdown in H2, when the growth of iGaming could still be outperformed by sports betting, at least in June-July, with Danish football fans potentially choosing to support Sweden as their fellow Nordic nation.
Sweden managed to secure its place at the World Cup, and is generally touted to have a strong shot at clearing some of the competition, at least during the knockout rounds, with strikers Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyokeres more than capable of splitting defences open.
Moving forward, Denmark is currently putting together a plan to severely limit gambling marketing during live sporting events, meaning that this World Cup could be the last opportunity for local betting brands to capitalise on an event of such scale.
