The chairman of the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has suggested the proposed blanket ban on online gambling advertising could fuel a rise in black-market activity.
In a new blogpost, Michel Groothuizen said the Netherlands’ high channelisation rate of 95% has proven the market’s regulation was a success but will only be sustainable if players are signposted towards legal operators.
In April this year, the Dutch House of Representatives voted in favour of banning online gambling adverts as well as “high-risk” online casino games such as slots.
First proposed by Socialist Party MP Michiel van Nispen, the politician argued such drastic measures were required to tackle the negative impact of gambling.
The motion is yet to be implemented, but MP Teun Struycken, the man tasked with overseeing gambling policy as part of the nation’s new right-wing coalition government, is expected to finalise the motion soon.
Van Nispen’s propsal represented a follow up to an ad ban across TV, radio and in public spaces that came into effect on 1 July 2023.
The Dutch market was regulated on 1 October 2021 and has seen Flutter-owned brand tombola pull out over fears around ad bans and a tax hike to 37.8% by 2026.
Groothuizen wrote: “We do need to remain alert to developments in the future. I already spoke briefly about channelling: we see that the vast majority of players only do this with legal providers.
“That is a percentage to be somewhat proud of, but that we also owe in part to the visibility of licensed parties.
“After all, players need to know who they should go to. The total ban on advertising that has been in the air politically for some time can have a significant negative effect on that.
“We also see that in countries around us, where channelling decreases sharply after advertising bans. There, almost half of the players sometimes play on the illegal market.”
Groothuizen’s comments were published alongside the latest KSA report into the state of the Dutch gambling market over the past 12 months.
Within the report, it was revealed that the Dutch online market recorded an 8% increase in gross gaming revenue (GGR), up to €752m in H1 2024, when compared to the second half of last year (€696m).
That rise has been partly attributed to the impact of Euro 2024, although online casino represented the lion’s share of GGR, accounting for 72% in the opening six months of this year.
It is estimated around 5.4% of the adult Dutch population gambled online in H1 2024, with an average of 1.07 million player accounts as of H1 2024.
The KSA noted this translated to around 455,000 players due to customers holding multiple accounts.
The regulator also reported that online gamblers in the market lost an average of €946 over a six-month period, equating to an average of €158 per month.
Young adults, those aged 18 to 24, accounted for 10.8% of all GGR in H1, although this cohort’s average monthly losses sat at just €55.
Including the land-based sector, the KSA reported the average Dutch adult spends €272 on gambling each year, up from €258 in 2022. The European average sits at €339.
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