Big players block Dutch customers pending licence

The move is to ensure compliance with new Dutch gambling regulations

Ten licenses have been issued to online gambling operators by the Kansspelautoriteit since the newest Dutch Remote Gambling Act (KOA) was agreed upon. Any online casinos that don’t oblige to the laws will be fined, as has already happened to Tipico, who stated they were not targeting the Dutch market at all. Nonetheless, Dutch gamblers signed up, so Tipico was in default. On top of that, a six month “cooling off” phase begins for Tipico. That’s the time an unlicensed operator must wait after seizing unauthorized activity, before it can apply for a licence.

Might not be worth it, Entain seems to have thought. For the sweet sum of nearly €6m of lost revenue per month, Entain has blocked the entirety of Dutch players. Betsson took the same route, losing about €2.5m per month. The exit from the Dutch market starts October 1 for both.

The probability for an application to be successful, is rather high, as the Kansspelautoriteit projects’ most received applications to be successful. So far only 28 operators sent a request, paying €48,000 for the review process to commence.

Another major player, the Kindred Group, prefers to risk it all. Their approach is to just ignore the Dutch market, not setting up any advertisements there, and to then miraculously dodge the bullet that struck Tipico.