Dutch regulator attacks illegal gaming advertising in 2025 strategy

The Dutch Gaming Authority (KSA) has reiterated a commitment to combating illegal gaming in 2025, building on its efforts last year, and amid a regulatory review of the Netherlands’ betting laws.

Updating Dutch market stakeholders this week, the Kansspelautoriteit outlined the scope of its 2025 strategy. Four years on from the launch of the Dutch online betting market in October 2021, the regulator states that ‘the market is still developing’.

This ongoing development comes with its challenges, not least among these the lingering threat of black market operators. The KSA has been vocal about clamping down on these firms in recent years, though the regulator will also have to contend with changing political attitudes about the legal sector.

In 2025, the KSA states that its ‘hard work will continue’ – referring to efforts against the black market. These efforts were underpinned by a campaign ‘tackling the infrastructure around illegal providers’.

“To this end, the KSA has advocated at the ministry and in politics for new powers, such as the ability to black out illegal websites,” the regulator’s statement read.

“Revision of the advertising regulations is also an important instrument that the KSA advocates, so that advertising by illegal immigrants and third parties can also be tackled more effectively.”

Taking the axe to advertising

The KSA’s campaign against illegal operators has seen the regulator take aim at a number of entities, not just the companies themselves. However, because illegal operators function outside of the bounds of regulation, as the name suggests, the KSA faces challenges in applying enforcement actions and penalties.

Cutting back the extent of advertising by illegal firms has been a key priority for the KSA. For example, the regulator recently contacted the editors of several Dutch media platforms regarding the exposure of illegal betting adverts on these sites.

The Dutch market is still young, but figures suggest it is rapidly approaching or may have even reached maturity – the market grew 4.9% last year, official figures show, significantly less than the 28.9% the year prior. As the market matures, policymakers and the regulator are looking at how laws and rules can be amended.

Just last month, the KSA stated that it supports a “fundamental change of course in gambling policy’ in the Netherlands. This statement came as the Dutch government looks to how the Gambling Act governing the country’s betting space can be amended for the better.

Teun Struycken, government Minister for Legal Protection, is planning reforms which will give the KSA greater powers. This could enable the regulator to pursue enforcement actions against non-operator firms which breach Dutch gaming laws, such as a tipster platform recently identified on the Telegram social media app.

The regulator will also find itself having to enforce stricter advertising requirements later this year. In July, the Netherlands will introduce a blanket ban on sponsorship in the Netherlands, and Struycken has made it clear that the government will have little patience for clubs and operators which breach it. The KSA will have a key role to play in enforcing this policy