Dutch research body recommends “urgent” reforms to gambling regulations
The WODC has called for a centralised duty of care and more powers for the gambling regulator, KSA.
The Netherlands.- New studies on the participation in gambling in the Netherlands have found that 64 per cent of over 16s gambled in some form in 2024. Only 10 per cent gambled online but such players were found to be at higher risk, leading to calls for new reforms.
The figures were released by the Scientific Research and Data Centre (WODC), which compiled the results of three studies. The most common form of offline gambling was lottery draw tickets (55 per cent participation) followed by scratchcards with a participation rate of 21 per cent and bingo with 7 per cent.
Land-based casino gambling was found to have a participation rate of 5 per cent and online 2 per cent. Only sports betting saw higher participation online than offline (4 per cent compared to 3 per cent). Of those respondents who had bet online, 70 per cent said they had done so for the first time after the Netherlands’ regulated online gambling market launched on October 2, 2021.
The WODC raised concerns about the risk of addiction among younger age groups, noting that the percentage of players classed as high risk was 18 per cent among young adults compared to only 1 per cent among gamblers in general (excluding those who only played lottery games). But the risk rate was also higher for online gambling in general, with 11 per cent of all online gamblers deemed high risk against the Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI).
WODC proposes reforms of gambling regulation in the Netherlands
The WODC has now called for urgent reforms, suggesting that existing policies placed the burden on players to control their own gambling, which it said could be challenging for young people. Only 24 per cent of online gamblers were advised about gambling behaviour via on-screen pop-ups and only 9 per cent by chat or email.
Most respondents were not aware of tools like the self-exclusion scheme Cruks. Only 4 per cent of players used voluntary temporary exclusion, while 3 per cent were excluded involuntarily.
The WODC recommended the introduction of a centralised duty of care for operators and more powers for the gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA). It also suggested that player data should be made available for independent research and that more should be done to protect vulnerable groups including young people. It also recommended more action against unlicensed operators.
The full study can be found on the WODC website
Meanwhile, the KSA is exploring the implementation of new gambling harm indicators. It said new indicators could be used to improve problem gambling prevention and treatment.
At the start of the year, the KSA published a new general fines policy for gambling operators in the Netherlands. The policy outlines guidelines for how the regulator will impose financial penalties on gambling companies in a bid to provide more clarity.
The regulator has also signalled that it will take a strict approach to enforcing the Netherlands’ ban on gambling sponsorship in sports, which applies from July 1. KSA chairman Michel Groothuizen told the news channel NOS that the regulator would not allow operators or sports clubs to breach the spirit of the blanket ban by using workarounds. He referred to what has happened in Belgium, where some clubs have taken advantage of loopholes in the sponsorship ban by switching the logos of gambling brands for those of foundations or news portals backed by the same companies.
