How to Ruin the Online Gambling Market: the Example of the Netherlands
How to Ruin the Online Gambling Market: the Example of the Netherlands
Do you want a step-by-step guide on how to bring down an entire industry? In recent years, the Netherlands has shown a master class: minus 20% of the market income for the year, half of the turnover went offshore.
Long foreplay
The story began back in 2014, when it was first proposed to legalize online gambling. But the real law came into force only in 2021 - for seven whole years the country lived in a gray zone. All this time, local players quietly rolled in offshore casinos, and millions of euros flowed past the budget.
First errors after launch
When the market was finally opened, licenses were issued to only a dozen local operators. Foreigners were sent to "quarantine" for almost three years. All this time, only local brands used the feeder. A convenient coincidence, isn't it?
The audience in the Netherlands is fat: the average check here is ten times higher than that of players in Asia or Latham. Therefore, local offices began to shoot advertising in all directions. As a result, lawyers admitted: gambling caught up with alcohol and cigarettes in terms of aggressive promo.
Hard Rollback
The government decided that it was time to slow down, and rolled out tough restrictions. See the chronology:
- 2023: ban on non-targeted advertising, only digital remains;
- 2024: ban on sponsorship of shows and events;
- 2025: complete ban on sports sponsorship.
But they did not stop there. For players aged 18-24, a deposit limit of a maximum of €300 per month has been introduced. For everyone over — €700. If a person wants to throw more, the operator is obliged to "dissuade" him, refer him to psychologists and check solvency. In exceptional cases, the limit can be raised: up to €450 for juniors and up to €1050 for seniors.
The final chord is a tax of 34% of the GGR.
Who could not stand it
The result is predictable: operators began to curtail their activities. LiveScore Bet and Tombola have already left, and Holland Casino, a state-owned (!) company, has warned that it may close its offline halls.
Instead of replenishing the budget, the country again received an outflow of money abroad: about half of the turnover is now controlled by offshores. And this is not the limit - the Senate is discussing a complete ban on casinos by 2027.
The results are sad
Bans did not solve the problem of gambling addiction, but they killed budget revenues, forced businesses to leave the market and left people unemployed. The Netherlands has clearly shown that strict regulation without balance turns the market into a self-destructing system.
