Legal Online Gambling Market is Growing Both in Terms of BSR and the Number of Players

This is evident from the fourth Monitoring Report on online games of chance that the Gaming Authority (Ksa) is publishing today. When the online market was opened, the objective was set that at least 8 out of 10 players would play only with legal providers after opening, in a safe environment with many guarantees in the field of addiction prevention. The report shows that this target is more than achieved: 92% of the players only play via legal websites. New players, who had not yet played before the opening of the market, almost all (98%) only play with legal providers.

René Jansen, chairman of the Gaming Authority: ‘This fourth monitoring report shows a growth in the market for online games of chance, as we previously predicted. This is a development that requires all of our attention. Providers of games of chance must take up their duty of care firmly and intervene in a timely manner to protect players in order to realize a safe environment. Our investigation into the implementation of the duty of care this spring shows that the duty of care is interpreted in a very broad and varied manner. It is therefore very important that we, together with providers, look at a clearer interpretation that protects players in the best possible way. Compliance with the duty of care is also a priority in our supervision.’

Size of the market

The gross gaming result (BSR) has increased since the opening of the market in October 2021. In the month of January 2022, the BSR amounted to 90 million euros, compared to 124 million euros in January 2023. Based on experiences abroad, the Ksa expects a trend growth of 13 to 15 percent per year.

Players

In January 2023, the Dutch had a combined 859,000 active accounts with legal providers. This is an increase compared to the number in the previous report. These accounts are by no means all used to play on a monthly basis; 365,000 players actually gamble per month. A majority of players have one account (57 percent), and 22 percent of them have four or more accounts.

Per player account, less has been played in the past period. In the period October 2021 to July 2022, a player lost an average of € 153 per month per account. In the period from August 2022 to January 2023, that amount has decreased to €143.

Young adults

The Monitoring Report specifically looked at young adults. In January 2023, they played with an average of 183,000 accounts. Young adults have about 2.6 accounts per player. Young adults play more than older players, but their loss per account is much lower than the average loss at €54. This means that an average young adult player loses less money every month on gambling than an average player.

Cruks – Central Register Exclusion of Games of Chance

From October 4, 2021, players can take a gambling stop by registering in the Central Register Exclusion of Games of Chance (Cruks). This means that they exclude themselves for at least six months (or longer) from participating in high-risk games of chance at all legal providers in the Netherlands, both online and country-specific. The number of registrations in the register is steadily increasing: in April 2023, almost 40,000 people were registered in Cruks.

Advertisement

Although spending on television advertisements for online gambling has been increasing since the market opened, the number of television advertisements is falling. The number of online advertisements, on the other hand, has increased sharply in recent months; so there is a shift from TV to online.

This shift will continue in the coming months, because as of July 1, there will be a total ban on untargeted advertising for online games of chance. Advertisements that are prohibited as of July 1 are radio and TV commercials and billboards on the street. After a transitional period, sponsorship for online games of chance, for example from TV programs or sports clubs, will also fall under the prohibition. Advertising on the Internet and television on demand will only be allowed under strict conditions.

SOURCE: Kansspelautoriteit (Gaming Authority).