Nlcasinospot explains what is currently happening in the Dutch gambling market
AMSTERDAM, Aug. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the goals of the opening of the online gambling market in the Netherlands (on October 1, 2021) was that at least 80% of players would play with a legal provider within three years of the market opening. It seems that this goal has already been more than achieved. The percentage of players playing only with legal operators is 92% as of January 2023.
However, the Dutch authorities have decided to ban gambling advertising in public places, on television, radio, etc., which has sparked debate due to the ambiguity of this decision and its potential consequences for achieving the goal of legalizing the gambling market. Specialists of the web platform Nlcasinospot, which is owned by the company HraiGamble Group, analyzed the reaction to these actions, both government representatives and representatives of the gambling business.
What happened?
Gambling advertising on television, radio and in public places, including billboards, has been banned since 1 July at the request of the Minister of Legal Protection Franc Weerwind. In this way, the authorities are trying to prevent gambling addiction among young people and vulnerable people.
Minister Franc Weerwind: "Today we have taken an important step towards further restricting gambling advertising. Advertising is a means of directing people to a legal offer, but the importance of preventing addiction outweighs it. By doing so, I want to protect vulnerable groups, particularly young people."
This law was preceded by another ban in the field of advertising. In June 2022, the Dutch authorities, believing that high demand among young people is driven by promotion through influencer campaigns, introduced a ban on the participation in advertising of persons who enjoy a certain public fame or with whom they want to identify or associate themselves, such as professional footballers, influencers, models, singers and famous poker players.
Minister Franc Weerwind: "Rolmodellen kunnen een aansprekend voorbeeld zijn van een succesvolle leefstijl die extra aantrekkelijk is voor met name jongeren. We hebben gezien dat reclames met rolmodellen een aanzuigend effect kunnen hebben om te beginnen met gokken of langer door te spelen dan verantwoord is. Om kwetsbare groepen en vooral jongeren te beschermen heb ik een verbod ingesteld op de inzet van rolmodellen."
Sponsorship of online gambling, for example on television programs or by sports clubs, will also soon be banned. The transition period will last until July 1, 2025. For sports gambling providers, this is the last chance to jump on the last bandwagon, such as BetCity.nl, which will immediately start sponsoring VVV-Venlo. Until mid-2025, the BetCity logo will be placed on the back of the Koelclub shirt, where the Resifence logo has been for the past few seasons.
Arguments in favor of the Dutch authorities
The Dutch authorities have introduced these bans on gambling advertising to prevent gambling addiction among young and vulnerable people, especially those under the age of 18.
If we look at the study Monitoringsrapportage online kansspelen voorjaar 2023 published by the Kansspelautoriteit, we will see that the KSA pays special attention to young people in its monitoring report. Compared to the total number of players, young people play sports betting relatively more often. In 2022, the group of young people generated a BSR (BSR - bets minus winnings paid out) of €102 million. This is 9.4% of the total BSR in 2022, and this share has remained stable over the months.
Not surprisingly, SP-Kamerlid Michiel van Nispen regrets that Minister Weerwind is sticking to a transitional period for sports sponsorship. "This could last until mid-2025. So until then, the idols of the youth can continue to walk the field as walking advertising columns for this exciting activity."
There are also alarming signals from almost every Dutch school that high school students are increasingly visiting gambling websites. And yet gambling is only legal from the age of 18.
According to Feite Hofman, an expert on gambling addiction at Pas op Gamen en Gokken (PoGG), there is at least one person in every class who gambles online. At the same time, he monitors the dynamics of the growing popularity of online gambling and finds it alarming. "They think they can make money quickly and easily. And they like it, it's like a game."
Another expert on youth poverty and debt prevention, Evelien Rutgers, Senior Project Manager at MoneyWays, also confirms the fact that online gambling plays a big role among students. Young people are increasingly attracted to making money quickly and associate it with happiness and status, he said.
How will it affect the legal gambling industry?
While the intention to protect vulnerable groups is laudable, industry experts argue that these measures may hinder the goal of fully legalizing the gambling market.
Critics argue that the ban on advertising does not address the safety of vulnerable groups, but only drives gambling underground.
According to Peter-Paul de Goeij, Director of the Netherlands Online Gambling Association (NOGA), "banning something does not make it disappear, it just disappears from view."
The point is that after the legalization of the market in 2021, only those providers who have obtained a license from Kansspelautoriteit will have the right to advertise publicly.
Peter-Paul de Goeij emphasizes that the gambling advertising policy is ineffective as long as Google can advertise illegal online casinos - two out of five paid gambling ads on Google.nl come from illegal operators. This makes it difficult for consumers to know which providers are safe and which are not. The risk of falling prey to illegal gambling operators and scammers increases.
In addition, the removal of advertising from public places and media channels reduces brand awareness, making it difficult to estimate the number of players using licensed offerings.
For new players, this draft law creates an uneven playing field and an additional barrier to entry, hindering the growth of the legal gambling market.
The experience of Italy, which introduced a similar ban, has led to an increase in the number of illegal players. Justin Franssen, an lawyer at Kalff Katz & Franssen, also expressed concern about the potential increase in illegal activity in the Dutch market.
In addition, the requirement for sites to ensure that 95% of their visitors are over the age of 24 creates problems for affiliate sites, which is an unattainable goal for even the friendliest (affiliate) sites, potentially leading to closures and restricted access to information for those seeking legal online casinos. "People who are actively looking for where to play casino games or bet on a sporting event online don't look to see if it's a legal online casino or bookmaker, they just trust Google as it offers them the top 10 sites that it considers useful for them..." - says Oscar Forster from Nlcasinospot. The goal of legalizing the gambling market suddenly becomes extremely difficult to achieve.
While the Dutch authorities are keen to protect young people and vulnerable groups, there are concerns among industry experts that these measures may have unintended consequences. There is currently no convincing evidence that inappropriate advertising is linked to gambling addiction. In this regard, the Ministry of Legal Protection needs to do more to strike a balance between the development of the legal gambling market and measures to ensure the safety of vulnerable groups. The industry looks forward to further steps by the authorities to address the problems associated with the advertising ban and to promote responsible gambling practices.
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