Dutch online market grew 4.9% in 2024 as KSA requests stronger powers
Netherlands’ regulator has called on the government to allow for an increase in the scope of its authority within the nation’s annual review
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has reported that the nation’s online gambling market has experienced gross gaming revenue (GGR) growth of 4.9% over the course of 2024.
The KSA published its Annual Report 2024 today, 24 March, with the regulator posting an overview of the entire gambling market.
It detailed how in 2023, online gambling made up 28.9% of the nation’s overall gambling market, though that overall figure has since risen to just shy of 34%.
Within the report, the Dutch regulator outlined how the online market recorded growth of 8% in the first half of 2024, generating €752m in GGR. It marked an increase from the €696m posted in H2 2023.
The authority has attributed the notable climb in online GGR for the first half of last year to a strong sports betting performance, thanks in large part to June’s Euro 2024.
Alongside the growth in online activity, there has been a marginal climb in the number of licenses granted to online operators in the Dutch market, with five new licenses issued in 2024, compared to four the year prior.
There are now 30 licensed online operators in the Dutch market, up from 27 in 2023.
However, two notable exits from the market came in the form of LiveScore Group and Flutter-owned tombola.
The report addresses the recent evaluation conducted into the Remote Gambling Act (KOA), which deemed the framework had not sufficiently protected players and required “urgent” adjustments.
The KSA has used its 2024 report to put forth four requests to Teun Strucyken, the state secretary for legal protection, that it feels will improve its supervision of the market.
Those requests include possessing the ability to block unlicensed operators, or sites that encourage users to engage with them.
It also wishes to make the involuntary registration process for Cruks, the nation’s self-exclusion scheme, more effective.
Involuntary sign-up allows for someone else to register a player to the service, though it requires a high burden of proof to do so.
Additionally, the report noted that there was a 22% fall in the amount of six-month self-exclusions registered via Cruks in 2024.
Of those who were registered to Cruks involuntarily, 30% choose to remain excluded once the initial six-month period has expired.
The KSA has outlined its desire to see a tightening of advertising rules, to shift the nation to a ‘everything is prohibited, unless permitted’ approach, while the regulator also wants to divide different gambling verticals into low, medium and high-risk categories.
The regulator has asked for permission to use false identity documents to carry out mystery shopping in a bid to conduct more thorough investigations into certain operators.
On the black market front, the review notes that there has been a 39% YoY increase in the number of reports of illegal activity, with 20 online operators hit with a penalty payment order.
Total fines for online operators came to €4.1m, a significant decrease from €29.4m the year prior.
However, the KSA notes that the fall is because of each penalty payment being notably lower than those issued in 2023.