Bet365 advises Dutch government to impose “as few restrictions on bets as possible”

Bet365 has told the Dutch government it should impose “as few restrictions on bets as possible,” to help the regulated market thrive when it is launched in 2021.

In its response to the regulator’s recently-closed consultation about market rules and regulations, bet365 argued against a ban on betting on events that are “under the dominant influence of one participant” and have “no overriding influence on the course or outcome of the contest”.

Bet365 said this could prevent taking bets on a player winning or losing the next set or game in tennis and thereby drive customers to illegal sites who would take those bets.

“We have analysed betting patterns on our site for the 2019 men’s final at Wimbledon which shows that a very significant percentage of in-play bets were placed on the individual game or set markets,” the operator said.

“This highlights a very strong desire to bet on this type of market and would suggest that the lack of opportunity to do so throughout the licensed market could severely jeopardise channelisation rates.

365 suggested it would be more appropriate to limit betting on individual points, and even then only at lower level tournaments, such as Challenger and ITF.

“We find it difficult to believe that winning individual games or sets at a Grand Slam or ATP event could be easily manipulated,” the firm said.

The firm was one of 17 industry stakeholders responding to the Dutch government’s consultation paper on the secondary regulations which will govern the Dutch egaming and sports betting market.

The Stoke-headquartered operator also said a broad interpretation of a ban on head-to-head bets could prohibit betting on a very wide range of events.

“For example – in the US Open Golf tournament, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth are drawn to play together on the third day,” the operator wrote.

“Although the players are not directly competing against each other, more competing against the entire field, a popular bet would be the head-to-head market between these two players in the given round. Considering that the PGA has its own sports integrity policy and that the two players will be trying to win the tournament outright, organising bets on the head-to-head market poses no risk to the integrity of the competition.”

Bet365 concluded: “We suggest that the only effective way to combat sports integrity issues is to monitor the betting taking place and include a licence requirement that obligates the operator to report suspicious behaviour. This can only be achieved by having as few restrictions on bets as possible.”

Elsewhere, the company said proposals to ban gambling advertising in the Netherlands during live sporting events were “restrictive” and would unfairly penalize operators who have previously not taken bets from Dutch players.

Bet365 said new market entrants “should have an opportunity to build brand awareness without overly exposing the general public to their advertising, whilst protecting revenues generated by media providers from the gambling industry,”.

As an alternative, the company suggest limits be imposed on the size and placement of adverts and content.

The government-led consultation, closed on 18 September. Operators are expected to be able to apply for a Dutch licence from July 2020 – provided they have not been fined and are subject to the cooling off period.