The Norwegian Gambling Authority says that the international market is getting smaller, but it warns that the state-run monopoly Norsk Tipping needs to do more to protect younger players.

 In 2024, the number of people who used Norsk Tipping's goods went grown by 11% from 1.8 million in 2023 to more than two million. This was according to a study from the regulator on the market's gaming activity.

 The report, which came out on April 24, said that gambling revenue in the US went up in 2024, but revenue from other countries went down.  It argued that this was because the regulator had successfully blocked illegitimate sites in the market, which made players had to use the monopoly offering.

 Norsk Tipping and the pari-mutuel racing monopoly Norsk Rikstoto's revenue from games that compete with foreign operators rose from NOK2.6 billion ($249,482,084/£186,990,102) in 2023 to NOK3.1 billion in 2024.  This was a 19% rise from the year before.

 Norsk Rikstoto also said that their number of active players climbed by 5% in 2024, reaching 175,000.

 The report indicated that the unlawful market turnover had gone down 18% in 2024, to NOK1.3 billion.  Instead of NOK1.6 billion in 2023, this happened.

 Tore Bell, director of the Norwegian Gambling Authority, said, "More and more people are saying that they played Norwegian games the last time they played and that they play Norwegian games the most."

 "We see that the number of players at the exclusive operators is going up, and that their revenue from games that compete with foreign operators is also going up."

 Norway's unlawful sites are going down
 The Norwegian Gambling Authority said that the unlicensed sector held 22% and 28% of what it called the "riskiest online casino style games" in 2024.  This was a drop from 35% in 2023.

 The regulator has been actively restricting websites and payment processors, banning gambling ads, and working with Google and Facebook to keep an eye on black market ads and access online.

 The authority blocked 57 websites that didn't have a licence in April.  Last November, it told about 50 companies that it would be blocking their sites. In April, it said that 40 of these companies had departed the market in protest.

 The Norwegian Gambling Authority ruled that Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto should cut less on their own advertising.

 Younger players in Norway are at risk
 The Authority observed that one "side effect" of its efforts to channelise was that more younger players were utilising the monopolies to play "high-risk" casino games.

 It told Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto to do more to protect younger players.

 The regulator said that casino games should be less dangerous and that the pause and self-exclusion mechanisms should be easier to find and use.  It also said that anyone under 25 shouldn't get promotional messages.

 "Good channelling has the side effect of bringing in more players for the exclusive operators."  We see that a lot of the youngest guys play like veteran players.  "They play the games that are the most dangerous," Bell said.

 Last January, the state-owned monopoly Norsk Tipping cut the maximum amount of money that players aged 20 to 24 could lose.

 Norsk Tipping customers between the ages of 20 and 21 can lose no more than NOK3,000 (£216/€256/$264) every month.  Players between the ages of 22 and 24 have higher loss limits of NOK5,000.

 Norsk Tipping said in one of its own surveys that one in five men between the ages of 18 and 25 are "considered risky and problem" gamblers.

 It showed that overseas operators were in a weaker position and that more effort was needed to get these hazardous players on the platform.

 It said that casino gaming was becoming more common among younger men.  Part of the reason for this was that they were more likely to see streamers who make casino games seem "cult" and video game gambling of skins or other things.