KSA CEO: Dutch market growth “probably considerably” less than original estimates

Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) CEO René Jansen has criticised early estimates of the growth of the Dutch market as being “exaggerated”, suggesting the current market could be far smaller due to the impact of restrictive measures targeting illegal operators. In a blog post discussing the recent 2021 annual report, in which the KSA revealed licensed operator accounts numbered 634,000 in March, Jansen suggested that while account numbers were lower, an “unknown number” of players might have accounts with multiple operators, something which might lead to these estimates being unreliable. “There are in any case (probably considerably) less than 634,000,” he explained. “This is an important insight, because earlier estimates have been made of approximately one 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 1.8 million. Those estimates therefore seem exaggerated, also because a number of large providers without a licence no longer offer in the Netherlands since 1 October. In other words: the number of players who still gamble with illegal providers has fallen sharply,” Jansen added. The report stated that the number who gamble with illegal sites had dropped considerably. A graph included in the report highlighted that prior to 1 October, illegal gambling site use had accounted for roughly two-thirds of the country’s online industry.  However, that had dropped to around one quarter during Q1 2022, something which Jansen suggested realised one of the Remote Gambling Act’s main objectives, that of channelisation. Dutch authorities have employed a zero tolerance approach to black market unlicensed gambling operators since the licensed market went live on 1 October, issuing a number of cease-and-desist orders against sites operating in the market.

Jansen’s second explanation for the decline in illegal gambling in the Netherlands was the increased time spent by users on licensed sites following the market launch. “After all, in the run-up to legalisation there was a lot of media attention for online games of chance. And of course there has been a lot of advertising since 1 October,” he said. On 18 March a raft of fresh regulations were introduced in the Netherlands to ban advertising across radio and print media and in out-of-home settings. On the advertising restrictions, Jansen said: “At the request of the House of Representatives, the minister has now announced far-reaching measures against this. The sector itself has also pledged advertising restrictions. It is too early to say whether the increased total playing hours since 1 October is a structural development.” Finally, Jansen praised the efficacy of online self-exclusion platform, Crucks (Centraal Register Uitsluiting Kansspelen). Since its launch at the beginning of October 2021, over 10,000 people have registered for the service. “It always takes a while before such a register is recognised and has found its way to the target group,” Jansen said. “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.