New Zealand Sets Strict Casino Advertising Rules Ahead Of 2027 Launch
New Zealand has set out exactly how licensed online casinos will be allowed to advertise once the country's regulated market opens, and the rules are among the tightest anywhere.
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) published its Advertising and Marketing legislative guidance in July 2026, sitting under the Online Casino Gambling Regulations 2026.
The guidance applies to operators that win a licence through a competitive auction, and the DIA says the regime will not be fully operational until 2027.
What The Rules Ban
Advertising is permitted for licensed operators, but it is wrapped in restrictions built around harm minimisation and keeping under-18s away from casino promotion.
Several outright bans stand out. Operators cannot suggest that outcomes are influenced by luck, fate, rituals, signs, omens or lucky numbers, with the guidance citing lines such as "It's your lucky streak, spin now while the fortune holds" as prohibited.
They cannot claim gambling improves a person's life, happiness or success. They also cannot use personal endorsements, defined to include a real, fictional or artificially generated person who appears to support or give credibility to a platform. That definition captures AI-generated spokespeople, closing a route some operators have tested elsewhere.
Affiliate marketing is effectively shut out. An operator cannot pay a third party where the fee depends on a referred person's conversion, such as opening an account, depositing funds or hitting a loss threshold. Payment based purely on views, and in most cases clicks, is treated differently, but conversion-based deals are barred.
Limits On Imagery, Bonuses And Player Data
The creative limits are equally specific. Advertisements must not show or play audio of physical gaming machines or poker chips, and jackpots on online pokies cannot be advertised at all, though jackpots for table games remain allowed. Bonus and free-spin promotions must display their full terms clearly.
Operators are also barred from using a customer's own playing data to push higher-stake bets or nudge a player toward a different product, and direct marketing by email or text needs clear, informed consent.
Age Limits And Live Sport
Timing rules apply to live sport. Casino advertising is prohibited from 30 minutes before a live broadcast begins until 30 minutes after it ends, with the moratorium covering pre- and post-event coverage.
Age protection runs deeper. Adverts must not appear where more than 20 per cent of the audience is likely to be under 18, ruling out placements in or near schools, youth events and youth-heavy social or streaming platforms. Marketing directed at anyone under 25 is only allowed if targeting controls can reliably keep under-18s out.
How It Will Be Enforced
The guidance flows from the Online Casino Gambling Act 2026, which passed its third reading on April 23, 2026. Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said up to 15 licences would be awarded through a competitive process, with operators required to exclude problem gamblers and meet strict harm prevention standards.
The Department of Internal Affairs can use take-down notices, formal warnings and enforceable undertakings, with penalties of up to $5 million for serious or persistent breaches. Until operators are licensed, all online casino advertising to New Zealanders remains prohibited under section 10 of the Act.
A Large Offshore Market
The prize is a large offshore market the government wants to bring onshore. A DIA-commissioned Market Insights report estimated online gambling by New Zealand-based cardholders at $1.36 billion for the year to September 2025, drawn from around 360,000 customers, with monthly spend above $100 million since March 2024.
The top four operator jurisdictions, Cyprus, Gibraltar, Great Britain and Malta, accounted for 96.3 per cent of that spend. Players can see which brands our team has reviewed through our guide to online casinos in New Zealand.
What To Watch
The next milestones are the licence auction and the point at which advertising becomes legal for approved operators. How aggressively operators market once the market opens will test how the DIA applies these rules in practice.
