Dutch regulator announces end of controversial cooling-off period
Locked out operators gear up to apply for market access as KSA reveals exclusion policy will end on 1 April
The controversial cooling-off period implemented by the Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) is set to end on 1 April, opening the door to a swathe of licence applications from operators.
The cooling-off period of two years and nine months was implemented on 1 July 2019 against operators for illegally targeting Dutch players, which meant firms had to wait for it to expire before operating in the country.
Under the KSA’s criteria, targeting Dutch players included the use of the Dutch language on a site, a .nl extension or Dutch symbols in advertising.
Sites with typical Dutch terms or symbols – including windmills, clogs and tulips – or using payment methods such as iDEAL, were also deemed to be targeted at Dutch consumers.
Following 1 April, the KSA will review operators’ applications to see whether illegal online games of chance have been offered during the cooling-off period.
The KSA said it would take into account an eight-year backlog on if illegal online games of chance had been offered by applicants.
When the Dutch online market opened on 1 October, an initial tranche of 10 operators were awarded licences, with several tier-one firms locked out of the market including Kindred, Entain and Betsson.
These lockouts led to a series of negative downturns in revenue for operators in Q4 2021 as firms battled against the regulatory headwinds in the country.
Kindred saw its Q4 2021 revenue fall 33% year-on-year to £224.9m, while Betsson posted a 10% annual downturn. Entain projected a £5m-a-month hit to EBITDA from its forced exit from the market.
The ending of the cooling-off period will be a welcome event for operators, with firms looking to claw back lost share in the newly regulated market.
LeoVegas CEO Gustaf Hagman told EGR of the difficulties operators face when looking to re-enter the Netherlands after missing out on the first round of licences.
He said: “What is happening right now is that the operators already with a licence are achieving the nice position of bringing on all the customers right now.
“We believe that we will have to start from the beginning more or less but on the other hand we do have two great brands in LeoVegas and Expekt.
“It will take some time before we have the same level of revenue as before,” he added.
There had been suggestions that the cooling-off period would in effect create a two-tier market with unsanctioned ‘whiter-than-white’ operators gaining a crucial advantage over their formerly sanctioned competitors.