For almost a decade, the Netherlands has been making serious efforts to legalize online gambling in the country. The good news is that their efforts have finally paid off as the country has fully legalized people to create online gambling platforms, and players are allowed to play at real money online casinos. Hence the users of different online gamble sites don’t have to worry about being penalized while gambling as the Netherlands regularisation group; the Dutch Gambling Authority has already released gambling licenses to ten operators.
The Netherlands was close to executing this project four years ago when she released a statement on her official website. The statement reveals how the administration wanted to give different online gambling/gaming providers licenses as soon as they were cleared to have met the specific criteria required. Although the administration was very careful and determined to achieve their main purpose of creating online gambling in the country, which is creating online gambling platforms for responsible gaming, this goal was difficult for them to achieve because it took them several years to achieve.
Are you just getting to know that the Netherlands has officially legalized online gambling in the country; then stay glued and read through this article as it provides details of how everything related to the legalization panned out?
Online Gambling in the Netherlands
The Netherlands Association for gambling, the Dutch Gambling Authority, has released gambling licenses to ten online gambling operators in the country.
- Holland casino
- Dutch lottery
Among the ten operators given licenses are the Holland casino and Dutch lottery, which are also the biggest names among the operators. The authority has also stated that gambling activities by these operators must go through regulations and supervision to mitigate addiction and irresponsible gambling.
It was made to improve the gaming industry as the providers need to follow the rules:
- to ensure to eliminate money laundering
- to pay gambling taxes
- to implement standard regulations (transparent advertisement, the legal age of customers)
Presently, the active number of online gamblers in the country after the legalization sits at 1.5 million. At the same time, the online gambling market in the country boasts of a value of 800 million euros with games like blackjack, roulette, poker, slots, and even sports betting. The future of the gambling industry is also bright, as the latest announcement also suggests that the online gambling market in the country would surely witness an unforeseen rise in the region.
Today, online gambling in the Netherlands is fully legalized and regulated by the remote gambling act. At first, the Act was set to be enacted in the first week of July 2020, but it was later launched on the 1st of April 2020.
According to Rene Janses, who is the chairman of the Dutch regulator the KSA, over the past couple of years, it has been almost impossible to ban online gambling; hence moving towards its legalization and regulation would rather make it easier to protect customers against abuses. As a result of this step, the KSA issued ten online gambling licenses whereby a go-ahead will be given to the selected ten operators to provide games of chance via the internet to customers today. The KSA also stated that this achievement is only the beginning as other people are applying in the early stages of the legalization period while others are yet to apply.
The good thing about the Act is that it regulates the online gambling market and modernizes the gambling market with up-to-date responsible gaming regulations and advertising guidelines. This action helps to prevent addiction to gambling, prevent illegal activity, and combat crime.
On the day of the legalization, the chairman of the regulatory committee spoke emphatically that the gaming authority’s goal is to help customers who desire to participate in online games to have a chance to play safe and be able to do this in a very safe and secure environment. The customers must undoubtedly be assured of fair play while the provider must pay serious attention to prevent gambling addiction.
Before now, the Netherlands was among the few European countries with a clear law guiding against online gambling even though the benefits given by the population were somehow equal to that experienced in Italy, France, Germany, and Spain. With all clarity, the online gambling guide to the Netherlands is now good to have in handy since online gambling operators, being able to promote and publicize their services legally, are expected to increase the number of players. This is true as statistics show that in 2015 there were at least half a million players, and in 2020, there were up to 1.2 million players.
The Sum of the Regularisations
The Netherlands has always loved gambling activity and has never frowned at it. The country enacted a law in 1964 that would keep land-based casinos operating legally for the next 50 years and put it into effect. Unfortunately, due to the advancement in technology, online casinos, the advent of the internet, and the rapid popularity of online gambling, the law was obsolete, and online activity was regarded as an illegal activity in the country.
Moreover, in the first quarter of 2019, the Dutch senate approved the remote gaming law, allowing online gaming operators to legally apply and get the necessary licenses to practice online gambling in the country.
The Market Prediction after the Legalization
The approval of the legalization of online gambling in the Netherlands, as expected, opened doors to new business opportunities in the market and also allowed the entry of new companies. For instance, this year’s total investment is expected to rise from 5 million euros to 412 million euros. If the market is stable, it can be further maintained to about 769 million by 2025. As seen, existing operators will be able to expand their offering, an aspect that directly impacts the growth of the Dutch economy.
The implementation and websites will operate completely legally after six months of the legalization, that is, from March 2021 to September 2021, because of the opportunity given to online gambling providers to obtain their appropriate licenses. It is said that approximately about 40 gambling companies are expected to apply, but only 35 will be the lucky ones.
Conclusion
Due to the many benefits that a country can derive from legalizing online gambling, including collecting taxes, the Netherlands has also approved online gambling operators to practice online gambling in the country. The country enacted laws that would help protect the customers who wish to partake in the games of chance presented by different online gambling operators.