New report highlights potential of Dutch regulated market

Almost 50% of Dutch players would choose to gamble with soon-to-be-licensed international operators, according to a new white paper looking into the market. The white paper, authored by OnlineCasinoGround.nl, found that players currently favoured illegal betting firms over local market incumbent TOTO, because of pre-existing restrictions on TOTO’s offering. These restrictions include a ban on in-play betting and limitations on promotions which do not exist in other European jurisdictions, as well as unfavourable odds. These restrictions will end when the market fully regulates in October 2021. Researchers looked at Dutch market statistics leading up to 2018, the last full year in which data was collected prior to the passage of the Remote Gaming Act in February 2019. The paper examined marketing efforts by TOTO in 2018 and found online gambling revenue doubled in the space of a year, jumping from €64.6m to €127.4m. Due to these campaigns, TOTO’s number of new online player registrations rose by 45% over the same period. TOTO alone was responsible for 1.8% of the 5% growth of the Dutch gambling market in this period. Dutch online players generated sports betting revenue of €14.7m during the 2020 World Cup – compared to €4.5m during the European Championship two years earlier, despite the absence of the Dutch national team from both events. The paper also cites growth in the Netherlands’ sole land-based operator, Holland Casino, over the last five years as evidence of the potential growth of the market.

In 2018, the market contributed €1.4bn to total Dutch GDP, up 9% from 2015, with provisional estimates stating that as much as 9% (£124m) of that contribution could come from the illegal market. Researchers suggested that based on the continuation of 2015 growth trend, the illegal market could be have been worth as much as €185m in 2018. The Dutch Remote Gaming Act is expected to become law in April, with the licensing of operators beginning as soon as possible after that point. It is expected that regulated market operations will commence in October. Almost 50% of Dutch players would choose to gamble with soon-to-be-licensed international operators, according to a new white paper looking into the market. The white paper, authored by OnlineCasinoGround.nl, found that players currently favoured illegal betting firms over local market incumbent TOTO, because of pre-existing restrictions on TOTO’s offering. These restrictions include a ban on in-play betting and limitations on promotions which do not exist in other European jurisdictions, as well as unfavourable odds. These restrictions will end when the market fully regulates in October 2021. Researchers looked at Dutch market statistics leading up to 2018, the last full year in which data was collected prior to the passage of the Remote Gaming Act in February 2019. The paper examined marketing efforts by TOTO in 2018 and found online gambling revenue doubled in the space of a year, jumping from €64.6m to €127.4m. Due to these campaigns, TOTO’s number of new online player registrations rose by 45% over the same period. TOTO alone was responsible for 1.8% of the 5% growth of the Dutch gambling market in this period. Dutch online players generated sports betting revenue of €14.7m during the 2020 World Cup – compared to €4.5m during the European Championship two years earlier, despite the absence of the Dutch national team from both events. The paper also cites growth in the Netherlands’ sole land-based operator, Holland Casino, over the last five years as evidence of the potential growth of the market. In 2018, the market contributed €1.4bn to total Dutch GDP, up 9% from 2015, with provisional estimates stating that as much as 9% (£124m) of that contribution could come from the illegal market. Researchers suggested that based on the continuation of 2015 growth trend, the illegal market could be have been worth as much as €185m in 2018. The Dutch Remote Gaming Act is expected to become law in April, with the licensing of operators beginning as soon as possible after that point. It is expected that regulated market operations will commence in October.