SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Gambling Authority of the Netherlands, will adopt stricter scrutiny of duty-of-care interactions by licensed operators with young customers (under 24s).
This demand headlines the ‘Supervision Agenda 2025’, which sets out the regulatory objectives of the KSA and its oversight of Dutch gambling and licensed entities.
The agenda adheres to the KSA’s long-term supervisory principles, initiated in October 2021 following the launch of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA) as the regulatory framework governing the Netherlands’ new online gambling marketplace. These principles include preventing gambling addiction, protecting and informing consumers, and combating illegality and crime in the gambling sector.
For 2025, the KSA has identified new areas requiring “extra attention” in its oversight of Dutch gambling licences. In October 2024, KOA licences implemented new deposit limits of €700 for player accounts over the age of 25, and a €300 deposit threshold for players under the age of 24.
Yet, despite these new restrictions, the KSA remains concerned about the exposure of under-24s to online gambling. The authority stated: “The KSA will investigate possible participation in licensed gambling by minors, and extra attention will be paid to how young adults are enticed by gambling providers to gamble. The information provided to these target groups will also be expanded.”
Lingering concerns will lead the KSA to evaluate the advertising and messaging of KOA licensees and their campaigns to better understand the temptations and motivations of minors and young adults.
Furthermore, the authority requires new insights to close loopholes to ensure that younger players adhere to deposit limit rules and gamble in safe environments.
The 2025 agenda maintains duty of care as a key obligation, with the KSA emphasising the importance of ensuring that gambling licensees comply with responsible practices, particularly by conducting due diligence on player accounts and their risk profiles.
The KSA believes that dedicated monitoring of risk profiles is the best measure to enable the timely intervention of problem gamblers and ensure operators refer customers to CRUKS, the Netherlands’ gambling self-exclusion scheme.
To tackle illegal gambling, the KSA will strengthen its direct enforcement against illegal websites and broaden its focus on intermediary services that facilitate illegal operations, such as payment providers and affiliates.
The authority noted: “We pay attention to (the prohibited) advertising that the illegal sector makes for gambling. We pay special attention to influencers and affiliates, who have a relatively large reach with their platforms in the Netherlands and among vulnerable groups.”
“We are committed to more and structural cooperation with relevant stakeholders. With them, we can gain even better insight into the B2B chain that makes illegal supply possible. In this way, we can hit illegal suppliers (and their promoters) faster where it hurts, including payment service providers and internet service providers.”
The final objective is focused on advertising compliance, where the KSA will demand stricter adherence to advertising and operational standards, including the ban on non-targeted advertising and the prohibition of athletes and influencers promoting gambling services.
The KSA concluded: “Over the past year, the KSA has seen too many violations of the advertising rules that were tightened in 2024. That is why the supervision of compliance with these rules will be further expanded. The supervisor will also provide additional guidance on advertising in the course of 2025.”
