Kindred to carry on accepting Dutch players as Entain and Betsson terminate offerings

Kindred Group will not block Dutch consumers from accessing its online gambling products when the market goes live on 1 October despite the fact it has not obtained a licence to operate in the country.

The Unibet operator is currently subject to a “cooling off” period in the Netherlands and was not included in the first tranche of 10 operators to receive a licence from the regulator, KSA, of which just six were awarded to international firms.

And while publicly listed rivals including Entain and Betsson have pledged to pull out of the market from 1 October to aid their official licence applications in Q4 of 2021, Kindred looks set to continue with its operational activity beyond the licensed market launch date.

“It is our understanding that there is no request from Dutch officials that international operators post 1 October block Dutch citizens from accessing their services,” Kindred Group told EGR in a statement.

“As we have highlighted before, Kindred is compliant with the prioritisation criteria outlined by the KSA and we are not actively targeting Dutch customers,” it added.

The prioritisation criteria bans international operators from using a .NL web domain and Dutch symbols in marketing material including tulips and windmills.

Operators are also barred from offering customer support and website text in the Dutch language, and the integration of the iDEAL payment method is also blacklisted.

Kindred maintains that if it sticks to this criterion, it is legally permitted to accept Dutch consumers, even before it receives a licence, with an official application set to be forthcoming in Q4 2021.

“We have seen the Dutch minister’s letter and the KSA’s enforcement policy and we are of course carefully monitoring the developments,” added the operator.

“We are also seeking continued clarification and dialogue with the KSA through our national trade association NOGA.”

Kindred’s approach in the Netherlands will be considered rogue as many of its international competitors have already announced their intention to stop accepting Dutch players – and at some cost.

For example, Entain said it has been operating in compliance with the KSA’s “cooling off” criteria since July 2019. In August of the same year, Entain’s bwin brand was fined €350,000 by the KSA for targeting Dutch consumers without a licence.

Updating investors, Entain guided its withdrawal from the soon-to-be regulated market would cost the business approximately £5m in EBITDA per month.

Entain has also pledged to submit its Dutch licence application by the end of this year and hopes to be awarded a licence by the KSA in the first half of 2022.

Entain has promised to generate 100% of NGR from regulated markets by the end of 2023.

Betsson’s assessment of the KSA’s guidance is similar to Entain’s and in stark contrast to Kindred’s.

“Central to the new policy is the novel rule that providers who do not actively target the Dutch market without a licence but do serve Dutch players should cease their supply,” said the Stockholm-listed firm, adding this constituted an “unforeseeable break” with the previously established policy towards operators currently under the cooling off period, which Kindred is still adhering to.

Nonetheless, Betsson and its subsidiaries have taken the decision to stop accepting Dutch customers on its international websites to boost the operator’s long-term chances of gaining a Dutch licence.

This will cost the operator SEK25m (£2.1m) approximately per month from Q4 2021.

Betsson CEO Pontus Lindwall said: “Compliance with laws, rules and ethical standards in the countries in which we operate is a foundation for Betsson.

“We have a strong belief in the Dutch market, and we have a clear ambition to operate under the new Dutch regulatory framework in the future, making us able to yet again offer Dutch customers an outstanding and sustainable customer experience,” he added.

Regulus Partners has estimated that the combined licensed and unlicensed online market in the Netherlands will be worth €827m (£712m) by 2024.