The Best Sports Betting Sites in Norway for 2024

Football

Football is the most popular sport in Norway. In terms of participation, it ranks first, with nearly one in ten people playing the sport. The Eliteserien is the top football league in Norway, with 16 teams like Rosenborg and Viking competing for glory. The best sports betting sites in Norway also offer competitive odds on elite leagues around the world, including the English Premier League and La Liga.

Winter Sports

Although football ranks top of the list for participation, it is not actually the most watched sport, with biathlon and cross-country skiing two sports that top the list. Winter sports being prominent in Norway is no surprise given the climate, and ski jumping is also popular in the Scandinavian country. There have been multiple world champions and Olympic medallists from Norway in all these disciplines.

Handball

Like all other Scandinavian countries, handball is extremely popular in Norway. Betting sites offer odds on both the men’s and women’s Eliteserien leagues. Norway has dominated women’s handball for decades, boasting multiple European Championship, World Championship and Summer Olympics titles. The men’s national team has won the World Championship on two occasions (2017 and 2019) to date.

Horse Racing

Horse racing is enjoyed by a large percentage of the Norwegian population, but the racing is a little different to the conventional thoroughbred action in the rest of the world. Harness racing is the discipline of choice in Norway and involves riders who occupy chariots directly behind their mount, steering and encouraging the horses to victory. Many races are broadcast live on Rikstoto Direkte.

A Monopoly is Formed

Following on from the first piece of legislation, Norway introduced the 1927 Totalisator Act. Essentially, this act gave Norsk Rikstoto a monopoly over horse racing betting in Norway. For most of the remaining part of the 21st Century, there was little change to the rules and regulations of betting, until 1992, when the Gaming Act was introduced.

By implementing the Gaming Act, the Norwegian government granted Norsk Tipping a monopoly on operating football, lotto and other sports betting within the country. Three years later, in 1995, the government implemented a more detailed and comprehensive piece of legislation, The Lottery Act, which regulated all lotto games and other similar betting mediums.

Slot Machines Replaced by Video Terminals

By the mid-2000’s, there had been such technological advances that the laws had essentially become outdated, and as a result, the government banned slot machines completely, replacing them with video terminals which were owned by Norsk Tipping. By limiting customers to the video terminals, those in power could limit how much was spent on video slots by making them pay with a special card which had daily limits imposed on it.

With regulation being introduced for the slots, in 2008, the government then took aim at online gambling and made it illegal for citizens to bet with foreign bookmakers. Although this law was in place, it did little to deter Norwegian gamblers from using the top betting sites around the world, as the vast majority were happy to let players still sign up despite the prohibition.

Norwegian Citizens Continue to Use Foreign Bookmakers

Not deterred, in 2010 the government took a big step to try and prevent citizens from gambling illegally with foreign bookmakers. Working off a similar model to that implemented by the USA, the Norwegian government introduced a law which prohibited financial transactions between Norwegian citizens and foreign bookmakers, effectively aiming to stop them using debit and credit cards on a range of sites.

This does not seem to have deterred Norwegian players from using foreign bookmakers, as A) e-wallets have quickly become a popular method for both customers and betting sites and therefore, provide an alternative and B) banking institutions were not overly strict in their monitoring of transactions, and consequentially, many bookie related payments were still going through.