Regulator and industry groups provide feedback on proposed Dutch gambling reforms

The KSA wants players to have to opt in to receive gambling adverts.

The Netherlands.- Gambling operators will today state their position as the government holds a round-table discussion on its proposed reforms of Dutch gambling legislation, which include new advertising restrictions and a possible increase in the minimum age for online slots. Helma Lodders, chair of VNLOK, will present the views of industry bodies at a meeting that will also be attended by the national gambling regulator, the KSA.

A top priority for the trade bodies VNLOK and NOGA will be to give arguments against the possibility of a ban on all gambling advertising. The Netherlands banned untargeted gambling ads in July 2023, but Teun Struycken, the minister for legal protection in the Netherlands, has suggested that stricter rules will be introduced to limit the appeal of online gambling specifically. 

However, the industry will highlight statistics from the KSA that suggest that monthly visits to licensed gambling sites have fallen by between 50 per cent and 75 per cent since the latest restrictions were introduced. VNLOK and NOGA insist that advertising for the legal market is necessary to allow players to distinguish between legal and illegal operators.

They will call for the government to allow legal providers to advertise “in a targeted and responsible manner” to prevent more growth in illegal gambling. At the same time, the bodies will call on the government to give the KSA more power to prevent the advertising of unlicensed gambling via social media platforms.

Their stance is supported by the KSA, which agrees that players need information about where they can gamble legally. However, the KSA wants players to have to opt in to receive gambling ads. By default, all ads would be prohibited, including those from unlicensed operators, which would allow the KSA to take direct action against advertisers, including affiliates.

Struycken told parliament: “KSA has expressed the wish that the advertising rules will apply to everyone instead of just to permit holders, as is currently the case. In this way, the KSA can take direct action against the advertisers themselves, such as news sites or football clubs.”

Improvements to Dutch self-exclusion 

Industry groups also want operators to be able to access data from Cruks, the Dutch gambling self-exclusion scheme, for the purposes of preventing advertising to people on the register. They also believe the system could be improved with a requirement to provide aftercare to players who begin to gamble again following a period of exclusion in order to promote long-term responsible gambling. They will add that operators could offer more assistance to help players register with Cruks, while reminding players that the system only blocks access to licensed sites and that other methods are needed to prevent them from gambling on the black market.

As for the challenge of unlicensed gambling, the trade groups will reiterate their calls for the KSA to be given powers to “take tougher action against parties that promote illegal supply, such as banks, advertising platforms and suppliers of gambling games and live casinos”. They will call for the government to create a dedicated task force to devise an action plan, and they will also suggest that the government should reconsider the Dutch gambling tax increase, which is due to be introduced in two phases this year and next.

Regarding the government’s proposal to raise the minimum age for online casino gambling from 18 to 21, VNLOK and NOGA will argue that more research is needed on possible undesirable side effects, of which the KSA has also raised concerns. 

Struycken hopes to present a new Dutch gambling bill by the end of the year. Meanwhile, a ban on gambling sponsorship in sport is due to come into force on 1 July. Dutch MPs have raised concerns that football clubs and gambling operators may attempt to use loopholes to evade the ban, similar to what has been seen with the gambling sponsorship ban in Belgium. Struycken insists that the KSA will take action to prevent such evasions.