Interactive
The Netherlands – KSA’s annual reports suggest that prelaunch estimate of Dutch online gaming market ‘seem exaggerated’
By Phil - 28 March 2022
With 634,000 player accounts in the Netherlands as of March 1 2022, René Jansen, Chairman of Dutch regulator gaming Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), believes the country’s online gambling market is not yet as big as initially expected.
Talking following the launch of the regulator’s Annual Report 2021 (pdf, 19 MB),he said it was too early to draw conclusions. “The developments are early, not all the data is available yet and the data that we have already is limited,” Mr. Jansen said. “An unknown number of players have an account with several providers. So there are (probably considerably) fewer than 634,000.
“This is an important insight, because earlier estimates have been made of approximately 1 million Dutch people who – occasionally or more often – participate in games of chance on the internet. There is even a recent survey that came in at 1.8m. Those estimates therefore seem exaggerated, particularly because a number of large providers without a licence no longer offer their services in the Netherlands from 1 October.”
“Cruks has passed 10,000 registrations,” he added. “These are people who want to exclude themselves for at least 6 months from participating in games of chance. It always takes a while before such a register is known and has found its way to the target group. The number of more than 10,000 registrations tells me that we are on the right track. Cruks is an important remedy for gambling addiction, so it’s good that people know where to find the registry.”
He added: “All in all, an important and major step has been taken in the modernisation of the gambling policy in the Netherlands in 2021. This was urgently needed. In a legalized and regulated market, it is possible to protect players from the risks of gambling. This was not really possible with online games of chance before.”
In 2021, the Ksa handed out nearly 2.2 million euros in fines to illegal online providers. She also ensured, among other things, that dozens of illegal online lotteries were stopped. In 2021, the Ksa also prepared for its supervision of the new gambling sector and put this into practice from 1 October. For example, in the last months of 2021, online licensees were held accountable for making misleading advertising.
The number of online gaming licenses is 17 on 8 March 2022. This is not the final situation, as there is a category of providers who have only recently or not yet been allowed to submit a licence application because of illegal offers in the past. At the moment, the Ksa is processing several applications.
In terms of money, the size in the fourth quarter of the online gambling market in 2021 amounted to more than 185 million euros (gross game result, the deposit minus the prizes paid out).
The number of hours spent on illegal websites has decreased sharply as of 1 October 2021. There are two explanations for this: there is a legal offer as of 1 October and a number of large illegal providers stopped offering in the Netherlands;
On 8 March 2022, the Central Register for the Exclusion of Games of Chance (Cruks) counts more than 10,000 registrations (see also: More than 10,000 registrations in Cruks). Consumers who want to protect themselves against the temptations of games of chance can exclude themselves from participation for at least six months.
The Loket Kansspel, a spending target of the Addiction Prevention Fund, was approached 679 times in the last quarter of 2021; in 254 contacts it was about (potentially) problematic playing behaviour;
Since October 1, 2021, the amount of advertising on television about gambling has increased, both in terms of money and in the number of expressions. This is entirely due to advertising for online games of chance;
Online advertising is less easy to monitor than TV advertising. It is clear that a lot of money is also spent on online advertising.
