SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Dutch gambling authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has contacted more than 40 newspaper editors about promotion of illegal gambling in media.
According to the regulator, the advertisements were for unlicensed gambling companies that were inviting Dutch players to their websites, and allowing them to play without the required player safety measures that are otherwise present with license holders, such as the CRUKS self-exclusion scheme.
The adverts were featured in online newspapers, prominently visible alongside the logos of highly recognisable and credible institutions, such as several Dutch banks.
Concerned customers immediately reported this to the KSA, which proceeded with an investigation. The investigation lasted for six months, and it is still unknown how many people exactly have fallen victims to the illegal websites.
The result – 42 editors contacted and asked to promptly remove the ads and the links behind them from their websites, as this is in direct breach of the Dutch Remote Gambling Act (KOA).
All publications subsequently received a detailed informational letter from the KSA, which advised on several actions to prevent future violations.
KSA Reforms
The Netherlands’ Remote Gambling Act is currently being subjected to a revision, led by State Secretary for Legal Protections Teun Struycken, only a couple of years after it came into effect in October 2021
A review of the legal framework commissioned by Parliament throughout 2023 and 2024 showed that the texts are rooted in policies from 2011, where operators and customers have the bigger share of responsibility when it comes to player protection.
Some of the changes that Struycken wants to implement include the raising of the minimum gambling age to 21, increased powers for the KSA, as well as stricter advertising restrictions.
Sports sponsorships will also come to an end on 1 July, with Struycken warning of a bigger clamp down if the situation becomes similar to that in Belgium, where sports clubs managed to find a loophole and circumvent the gambling sponsorship ban.
