Dutch government approves wide-ranging gambling ad ban
Operators will be banned from advertising across TV, radio and in public spaces in initial tranche of regulations as the Netherlands follows neighbours Belgium with clampdown
The Dutch government has approved a new law prohibiting gambling operators from advertising on TV, radio and in public spaces.
The new regulation will come into effect on 1 July in what is a major shift towards draconian policy from the Netherlands.
The overarching aim of the new policy is to avoid firms advertising to young adults between the ages of 18 and 24.
Marketing to this age group has been one of the core gripes of the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) in recent months, with the likes of Entain’s BetCity and bet365 being hit with fines.
Alongside this initial ban, the Dutch government has also confirmed the outlawing of sports sponsorship by gambling firms.
The sports sponsorship ban will come into effect on 1 July 2025, allowing for a two-year transition period for clubs and operators.
However, no new agreements will be allowed to be penned during the transition period, with the 24-month timeline put in place to allow existing deals to expire.
Elsewhere, advertising on the internet will be allowed but will be heavily restricted.
Websites that allow gambling advertising must include an option for users to opt out of seeing them. In addition, operators must ensure that the adverts are reaching those above the age of 24 and need to prove that a minimum of 95% of the ads reach people who are at least 24.
There will be some leeway for firms, with advertising on social media, on-demand platforms and email campaigns still allowed, provided it adheres to the aforementioned requirements around not reaching young adults.
The ban was originally meant to come into force at the beginning of this year but was delayed due to the time it took to process the responses to the public consultation on the new law.
In a note of explanation attached to the law, the Dutch government said: “The aim of the ban is to reduce the amount of untargeted advertising and to reduce its wide and untargeted reach in order to prevent, as far as possible, this advertising from reaching young people under the age of 24 and other vulnerable groups. The aim is to reduce the risk of addiction among those groups.
“There are clear signals that the number of players experiencing problems due to gaming behaviour is increasing, and addiction care and people who have experience with addiction problems have indicated that advertising plays an important role in this. Research also shows that this applies even more to young people under the age of 24, which is why there is reason to reduce the large amount of advertising and its broad and untargeted reach.”
The ban was first proposed by Minister for Legal Protection Franc Weerwind in July 2022, after he established there was an over-saturation of gambling advertising since the market was legalised in October 2021.