Veikkaus signs Mikko Rantanen as brand ambassador and renews NHL deal

Veikkaus has appointed Mikko Rantanen as its new brand ambassador and simultaneously renewed its official partnership with the National Hockey League for Finland, the company announced on 1 October 2026. The agreement makes Rantanen — the Dallas Stars forward, Stanley Cup champion and one of Finland’s highest-profile NHL players — the public face of Veikkaus’s hockey marketing and ties the operator more closely to NHL content in Finland.

What Veikkaus has agreed and when

The announcement combines two linked moves. First, Veikkaus signed a partnership agreement with Mikko Rantanen that names him the operator’s brand ambassador and positions him in marketing and content initiatives tied to ice hockey. Second, Veikkaus renewed its status as an official partner of the National Hockey League in Finland under a separate but related agreement. Both elements were publicised on 1 October 2026.

Veikkaus frames the pair of agreements as strengthening its claim to be the “home of ice hockey” in Finland and as reinforcing the operator’s long-standing sponsorship footprint across domestic and international hockey.

"I’m excited to begin this partnership with Veikkaus. Veikkaus has a strong presence in Finnish ice hockey, which is something very important to me," said Mikko Rantanen. "I’m proud to be involved in promoting Finnish hockey culture while also highlighting responsibility and fair play, values that I strongly believe in."

How Veikkaus describes the fit with hockey and responsibility

Jarkko Nordlund, Executive Vice President, Domestic Betting and Online Gaming at Veikkaus, positioned the deal as a continuation of the operator’s sport sponsorship strategy. He said Veikkaus is involved at every level of Finnish hockey and that Rantanen represents “elite performance, dedication, and success built on teamwork,” attributes the company says align with its values.

The operator intends to use the partnership to highlight responsibility and fair play alongside promotional activity. That dual emphasis — marketing exposure plus a public-facing responsibility message — was repeated in Veikkaus’s statements around the announcement.

Content, channels and customer visibility

Veikkaus said the agreements will make NHL stars visible across its owned channels and marketing, and that Rantanen will help produce NHL-related content. The company named VeikkausTV as one of the distribution channels that will broadcast games from the upcoming NHL season.

Tuomo Torkkola, Head of Sponsorship at Veikkaus, described the commercial aims: the partnerships should deliver content that connects with Finnish sports fans and supports the vitality of hockey at different levels — the national teams, Liiga, Mestis, the Aurora League, and the NHL. He also highlighted that ice hockey is Veikkaus’s most important betting sport and that the deals will enhance the operator’s product offering for hockey audiences.

Veikkaus will deploy the partnerships across marketing, hockey-related editorial content, selected events and customer benefits. The operator also expects to feature other NHL players alongside Rantanen in its programming because of the league agreement.

Implications for the Finnish market and operators

The combination of a high-profile Finnish NHL star and a renewed NHL partnership gives Veikkaus prominent visibility in broadcasts and promotional material aimed at Finnish consumers. Broadcasting NHL games on VeikkausTV gives the operator control of a hockey viewing experience tied to its brand.

The company explicitly connects the commercial activity to its sponsorship responsibilities in domestic hockey. That reach runs from top-tier Finnish competitions to international NHL content, and it creates a platform for cross-promotion between the operator’s betting product and hockey audiences.

For competitors and platform suppliers the deal signals continued investment in content-driven customer engagement in Finland’s sports betting market. The move also underlines the role of exclusive league partnerships in securing talent access and broadcast rights.

What the agreements will look like in practice

Veikkaus has said the partnerships will be visible in these areas:

• marketing campaigns featuring Mikko Rantanen and other NHL stars

• bespoke NHL-related editorial and video content produced for Veikkaus channels

• selected live-event appearances and customer-facing promotions

• VeikkausTV transmission of NHL games for Finnish viewers

Torkkola stated the goal is to produce content that resonates with customers and supports hockey at multiple levels in Finland.

"We want to offer content that resonates with our customers, appeals to Finnish sports fans, and supports the vitality of ice hockey," said Tuomo Torkkola.

What to watch next

Observers should track the rollout of Rantanen-led content and how Veikkaus integrates NHL material into its betting and broadcast proposition. The effects on player acquisition and customer engagement metrics will be the first commercial measures to watch, while regulators and responsible gambling groups will likely monitor how Veikkaus balances promotional activity with its stated responsibility messages.

For readers following sports sponsorship strategy, the Veikkaus package is a case study in combining athlete ambassadorship with league-level rights to increase visibility within a single market. For operators focused on Finland, the ties between the operator, a domestic hockey star, and the NHL underline the continued importance of localized content and broadcast control for sports-betting offers.

For more on how betting operators use sports content to engage customers, see recent coverage in our sports and b2b sections.