Zebetting gains Dutch online gambling licence
The Dutch regulator has issued its 15th online gambling licence, granting Zebetting’s Zebet permission to offer online sports betting in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands.- Dutch online gambling licences are starting to fly out thick and fast after a slow start when the regulated online gaming market launched in October.
The Netherlands’ online gambling market launched on October 2 with just 10 licensees, raising concerns about the level of offering to players.
The Dutch regulator de Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) insisted at the time that more licences would be coming and that the market wouldn’t take its final shape until around April, and that now seems to be the case with four new licences issued in the last week and several major players still expecting to gain the required permits to launch.
In the last week, the KSA has issued a licence to Belgium’s historic land-based casino Casino de Spa and two new licences to JOI Gaming, which had already picked up one licence in November.
Now it’s issued the 15th licence. Zebetting and Gaming, which operates the Zebet brand, becomes the latest operator. It will offer sports betting and horse racing betting at Zebet.nl and Zeturf.nl.
The Dutch online gambling market starts to take shape
The first 10 Dutch online gambling licensees issued ahead of the market’s launch went to Bet365, Tombola, Play North, the land-based casino operator Holland Casino, state lottery Nederlandse Loterij’s Toto Online brand, Janshen Hahnraths Group with FPO Nederland, Italy’s Betent, Belgium’s Bingoal, NSUS Malta, which runs GGPoker.eu and LiveScore Malta.
Several major operators, including Betsson, Casumo, 888, Entain, Kindred Group and LeoVegas continue to block Dutch players after the KSA announced a tough policy on unlicensed operators. Several are believed to be expecting to receive licences in the coming months. Ireland’s BoyleSports is also planning to enter the market.
Earlier this week, the KSA issued warnings to existing licensees over advertising being seen by minors after it founds gambling ads on a Donald Duck website. The regulator has ordered operators to improve the targeting of online advertising.
Meanwhile, politicians are calling for a ban on untargeted gambling ads in the Netherlands.
