KSA Takes Stock of the Gambling Industry in 2022

The regulator is happy with the result, as its fourth Monitoring Report that focuses on online games of chance has provided sufficient evidence that Dutch gamblers are playing more but losing much less. The KSA says this is owing to the measure the watchdog has taken to protect consumers, raise awareness, and respond to illegal gambling through a series of fines and enforcement moves.

Market Channelization and Growth Bolstered by Regulation

The country has just introduced an updated version of its self-exclusion program Cruks, which has already registered several thousand people. In the meantime, eight out of 10 players in the Dutch market are playing with legal and regulated operators, which provides them with additional safety. The rate is even higher, with almost 100% of all players who are new to gambling registering and using licensed website.

René Jansen, the chair of the KSA, has hailed how far the regulated gambling market has come since its official launch on October 1, 2021. He emphasized on how important it is for operators to step up and ensure that consumers are protected and play in a safe environment. Jansen added:

Our investigation into the implementation of the duty of care over the past months shows that there is still some work to be done as the term is interpreted broadly and in a varied way.

The chairman explained that it is important for providers and the regulator to work together so that misinterpretations do not happen and that consumers are fully and unequivocally protected. In the meantime, the market has reached €124 million ($137 million) in gross gaming results, and the KSA expects a 13%-15% annual growth.

Dutch Players End Up Losing Less

As of January 2023, the regulator said that there are 859,000 accounts registered with legal providers. Around 365,000 players were actually active monthly, with 22% of all players having four or more accounts. The average loss per account has been declining as well, from €153 ($170) in the period between October 2021 and July 2022 to €143 ($158) in the period between August 2022 and January 2023.

Young adults had around 183,000 accounts, the report said. An encouraging indicator is the fact that young players tend to lose even less, around €54 ($67) per account. Back to the self-exclusion program, the total number of people who have been excluded via Cruks reached 40,000 people in April 2023.

As to advertising, the regulator and the government have now agreed to roll out new rules starting on July 1, 2023, which will completely restrict untargeted advertisement in the country.