Dutch authorities want to get gambling ads right

The Netherlands has fenced with the regulation of its gambling advertising and now, lawmakers and regulators want to get it right. Before any amendments and rash decisions are made, though, the Dutch government will seek public input and has launched a new consultation that is hoping to achieve just that.

Dutch Minister of Legal Protection Franc Weerwind has confirmed that the country will seek to limit the potentially adverse impact of gambling advertisements but do so after analyzing current advertisement practices first. The minister envisages this to be done in three stages.

For starters, the Parliament has been given the recommendation to ban untargeted advertisement that is transmitted on TV, radio, or in physical public spaces. This measure is likely to be imposed come 2023. The idea is that exposing ordinary citizens to gambling advertisements could have potentially pernicious consequences.

Another measure is said to arrive in 2024 when the country is expected to prohibit partnerships between gambling operators and TV, and media entities. Then, the country will move forward with even more restrictions and suspend any partnerships signed between sports teams and gambling companies.

Whether these restrictions are actually passed would take some time. The public consultation will mostly show how society feels about these restrictions and whether they are for the good of all. Businesses may object, but the proposed changes are not too harsh when compared to other European countries.

Spain and Italy run more or less the same restrictions. The United Kingdom is planning to suspend Premier League shirt sponsorships, and although there are still many measures across the continent that are being debated, the overall trend is to make sure that gambling is less visible and obtrusive.

VNLOK and NOGA, two Dutch gambling trade groups, have necessarily objected to imposing more restrictions on the way advertisement in the country is done. Since it launched in 2021, the gambling industry has had a few issues with advertisement. Even Unibet, a brand that only entered this week, admitted faults in the way it promoted its bonuses.

Meanwhile, Dutch authorities have moved to ban "role models" from gambling, referring to popular individuals whose image and likeness may be used by gambling brands to attract new customers. The country is also fighting against loot boxes, digital goods that are used in video games, and that have been blamed for gambling addiction among youngsters.

However, Electronic Arts, one of the publishers of such digital goods, has recently won a case with a Dutch court ruling that loot boxes are not a form of gambling.

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