Dutch online gambling market maintains growth trajectory

Since the opening of the regulated online gambling market in the Netherlands, the sector has been growing at a steady rate. As an important market on the Old Continent, the Dutch gambling sector is projected to continue growing in the next few years, according to industry experts. Supporting this prediction is data released from the gambling regulator in the Netherlands, the Dutch Gaming Authority or Kansspelautoriteit (KSA).

Earlier this month, the regulator released a new report, highlighting the growth of the gambling sector year-over-year, the rate of channelization and more insights from the gambling industry in the country. The recent data uncovered that although the market is growing "less strongly" when compared to other regulated markets, growth is recorded for every quarter throughout 2023 when compared to the corresponding period in 2022.

Per the data released by the KSA, the gross gaming result for the online gambling market in the country was €1.39b at the end of 2023. Compared to the result in 2022, which was €1.08b, an increase of more than €300m is observed. According to the Dutch Gambling Authority, the online gambling market in the country grew strongly in 2022 but the "percentage growth has leveled off in 2023."

Each quarter in 2023 marked a year-over-year increase

The growth of the online gambling sector in the Netherlands is evident based on a breakdown of data quarter by quarter. For the first quarter in 2023, the sector reported a GGR of €331m, a significant increase of nearly €100m when compared to the €239m result from the first quarter in 2022.

This positive growth continued in the second quarter of 2023 when online gambling GGR marked a record by hitting €361m. In contrast, for the same period the prior year, the revenue halted at €245m. In the third and fourth quarters of 2023, the revenue hit €347m and €349m respectively. Both results marked an increase year-over-year when compared to the third and fourth quarters in 2022 when the GGR halted at €271m and €330m.

A breakdown of the performance of the Dutch online gambling market per category showed that the most popular were casino games against the house. Last year, those games were responsible for 77% of the share of the market. A distant second was sports betting, which showed variable results across the year, likely attributed to the different sports events or their absence.

When it comes to casino games where players engage in gambling against each other, such as bingo and poker, there was a stable share of 2.6% of the players who enjoyed such activities. The least popular online gambling activity throughout 2023 in the Netherlands was betting on horseracing, which was responsible for only 0.4% of the gambling activities.

iGaming drives the growth of the Dutch gambling sector

The growth of the gambling sector in the Netherlands is evident based on Kansspelautoriteit data which highlighted the impact of the online gambling sector in the country. Upon announcing this information, the gambling regulator acknowledged the positive impact of the first full year of online gambling in the country, highlighting a significant growth in the total gross gaming result for 2022.

Back in 2021, the total gross gaming result for legal games of chance in the Netherlands was €2b. After a year of online gambling, the figure stood at €3.4b in 2022. "Part of this growth is due to the increase in online gambling, but also due to an increase in land-based supply compared to the previous year. Physical casinos, arcades and catering establishments were closed for a number of months in 2021 due to the corona pandemic," explained the KSA at the time.

The number of player accounts and Cruks registrations grow

In its most recent report, the KSA acknowledged that the number of player accounts last year increased to 1.1 million. When compared to 2022, this result marked a notable increase, considering that back then, the player accounts halted at 970,000. Still, the gambling regulator acknowledged that since players can use more than one account to gamble online, the number of player accounts "does not directly indicate the actual number of players." Based on estimates of the gambling regulator, in 2023, approximately 5% of the adult Dutch population gambled in the last six months of 2023.

In October 2021, the Netherlands introduced the Central Register for the Exclusion of Gambling (Cruks), a register that enabled gamblers to exclude themselves from gambling activities with all legal and licensed land-based and online gambling providers. Besides the self-exclusion option, Crucks allows gamblers to be involuntarily excluded from gambling activities. Such involuntary exclusion can be initiated by a gambling operator, a family member or a partner of the gambler, who may be suffering from at-risk or problem gambling.

While the online gambling market has been growing over the last few years in the Netherlands, so have the registrations with Crucks. Per the data disclosed by the KSA earlier this month, the number of registrations with the central register has increased to more than 63,500 as of the end of January this year. Undoubtedly, Crucks plays an important role for the sector in the country, considering that it enforces exclusion, thus protecting consumers from excessive gambling.

Gambling sector grows amid regulatory changes

While the size of the Dutch gambling market continues to grow steadily, changes to the regulations are also not unexpected. Last summer, the country implemented a tough gambling advertising ban which effectively prohibited non-targeted gambling ads online. The tough rules set a number of restrictions for gambling operators seeking to advertise their products. However, earlier this month, the country passed even tougher regulations, wanting to kill online gambling adverts.

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