Netherlands admits that as the legal gambling market slows down, the black market surges

• The KSA has noted a slowdown in the legal gambling market, calling it a stagnation
• The illegal gambling market still commands the bulk of the total gambling spend
• The KSA is looking into the player protection rules it passed recently and how they are impacting the industry and player safety

The Kansspelautoriteit, or the Dutch Gambling Authority as it is known outside of the Netherlands, has not doggedly insisted that it is right no matter what.

In fact, the regulator has consistently delivered damning reports about the state of the industry in the country and specifically noted that the legal market is not successful in limiting the growth of illegal operations.

KSA continues to monitor the illegal gambling market, highlights worrying trends

In its newest update, published on Monday, October 13, the regulator said that the bulk of the money continues to be channeled offshore. A perennial issue remains – the legal market sees its headcount go up in terms of players, but the money flowing out to the illegal gambling market is shooting up as well.

The Netherlands defines illegal gambling as gambling done at any entity that has not been licensed by the Kansspelautoriteit, with these entities seemingly collecting the bulk of the money that is spent on gambling.

Speaking to Casino Guru News recently, Mike de Graaf, BetComply's Chief Compliance Officer, gave credit to the Netherlands and the KSA for acknowledging the issues that the current regulatory framework has caused, while offering a word of advice:

"Not usually, the Netherlands was an exception, and they deserve credit for admitting it. The industry had warned about the likely consequences before implementation, and unfortunately, they turned out to be right. The belief that you can protect players more by restricting licensed operators more, or generate more tax revenue by simply raising the rate, doesn’t align with reality. And the data now shows it."

Channelization remains fairly high, however. The legal gambling market is now attracting as many as 94% of players.

Those are people who gamble exclusively legally. Conversely, the legal gambling market accounts for about 49% of the money spent, down from 51% before – this again could be traced back to new player-protection rules that are more demanding on players to share financial information beyond a threshold.

"The Kansspelautoriteit considers this a worrying development, as players in the illegal market are much less well protected," the regulator said in a statement.

Casino Guru Head of Casino Research, Matej Novota, had this to add, commenting on the latest report:

"Channelization in terms of player numbers stays strong — about 94% gamble legally — but legal gross gaming revenue is slipping as high-stakes players drift to the illegal market.

The fact that the Dutch Gambling Authority is actively monitoring these developments and reporting on them in good faith makes me hopeful about the market's long-term prospects. This, however, would come down to effective regulation.

I would also welcome a solution proposed by the regulator on how it can make the market more attractive, and bring back those high spenders back home."

More accounts registered by players to avoid sharing financial information

The regulator estimated that in the first six months of the year, there were 1.29m accounts, but noted that this could be due to tighter rules that require players to share financial data with operators beyond a certain threshold. In other words, many players could be adapting and holding multiple accounts.

Drilling into the numbers, the Kansspelautoriteit estimates that there were around 839,000 unique active players on the market.

The legal market has also been able to reduce the loss per player on an annual basis, with losses dropping from €146 to €119 by the beginning of 2025. Young adults tend to lose €37 per month compared to €78 for adults, the regulator noted.

Yet, the biggest challenge remains to make gamblers spend more on legal gambling.

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