European Economic Congress panel calls for end to Poland monopoly

The panel, held on 24 April as part of the European Economic Congress, called for greater state action in Poland to tackle illegal gambling sites and and end to Poland’s monopoly over iGaming.

Poland’s gambling trade association (Graj Legalnie) President Zdzislaw Kostrubala said during the session the monopoly model is an “anachronism” in today’s world.

In Poland sports betting is open to private operators, but there is just one legal online casino, operated by state-run Totalizator Sportowy.

Despite this, there seems to be a lack of awareness in the Polish public on what is legal or illegal, the panel noted.

Kostrubala pointed to data published by the Ministry of Finance that claimed there were 50,000 domains of illegal games that have existed and continue to be created.

But, he said it’s impossible to block all illegal sites, and this enforcement action has become a “cat-and-mouse game” between state and illegal actors.

“We, as an association, are absolutely not against regulation. We are against regulation that does not work,” Kostrubala said.

“I can’t imagine that we will improve our economic, social and competitive situation while maintaining the current status quo.”

Poland gambling monopoly not in line with the market’s reality

Piotr Palutkiewicz, VP of the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, told the panel the law and monopoly model was not in line with the market’s reality.

“Even a consumer who wants to play legally, without knowing that he is dealing with only one legal entity, will inadvertently and unknowingly start playing at illegal casinos anyway,” Palutkiewicz said.

Lack of awareness from the public on legality seems to be a common issue in some EU states. A recent report by the Swedish regulator, Spelinspektionen, found that 72% of Swedish gamblers were unaware which products are licensed versus illegal.

Poland is one of only a handful of markets still maintaining a monopoly, Palutkiewicz noted.

“The experience of EU countries shows that almost all countries have already introduced a licensing system,” Palutkiewicz said.

Finland is the most recent nation to announce a move away from its historic gambling monopoly structure. In July it published a draft law proposing to its online betting market to private operators in January 2027. The law is expected to be voted on in parliament by June.

This follows on from Sweden’s market liberalisation in 2019.

Norway is the only Nordic country to still have a gambling monopoly in place, but this could change as a number of political parties have expressed support for an open market in their September 2025 general election manifestos.

Threat of illegal sites

The grey and black market panel discussion acknowledged the threat of illegal sites to the consumers and the state.

It cited data that suggested PLN230 billion ($61 billion) had moved to tax havens through gambling activities. This had cost the state PLN5.8 billion ($1.5 billion) in lost taxes.

Former chairperson of state monopoly Totalizator Sportowy, Olgierd Cieślik, said the fight against the grey market was not moving quickly enough. Cieślik noted the monopoly is expected to grow roughly 5% of the legal market in terms of players.

However, he added the illegal market, in terms of turnover, is catching up with the legal.

“Turnover, in terms of revenue of the legal market for last year, is about PLN67 billion. The illegal one is PLN65 billion. And it is growing decisively,” Cieślik said.

Dropping channelisation is a common challenge for gambling regulators across Europe, particularly as tighter regulations are put in place like deposit limit and financial vulnerability checks.

Wojciech Szpil, another former chairman of Totalizator Sportowy, said issues on how the law is applied in Poland remained. He said Poland had not kept up with modern markets.

“The state has not kept up with the law to really get ahead of what the market can offer,” Szpil added.

He insisted more could be done to address the “shadow economy” originating from offshore licensing frameworks like Malta, Gibraltar or Curaçao. However, he noted this would require action from the Ministry of Finance or the National Tax Administration.

 An expert panel has argued in favour of ending Poland’s monopoly as it is not in line with the rest of Europe.