More than 80% of gambling in the Dutch market was on legal sites in October
Regulator data suggests a promising channelisation rate despite only a handful of operators live in the first month
The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has revealed that 83.6% of the time consumers spent gambling in the Netherlands in October was on licensed websites.
The KSA said data showed the number of visits to legal sites surged from 1 October onwards when the regulated market went live, becoming one of the last countries in Europe to regulate igaming. Visits to unlicensed operators’ sites went in the opposite direction, the KSA added.
Just 10 licensees, including the likes of Holland Casino, Toto, Betent and bet365, were given the go-ahead to roll out their services in the Netherlands, although most didn’t make the launch date.
If the KSA data can be judged as a reliable barometer to the state of the Dutch market, it would suggest more than 15% of play in October ended up on offshore sites.
The likes of Kindred Group, Betsson, LeoVegas and 888 were forced to withdraw their offerings at the end of September and endure a ‘cooling-off’ period for previously accepting Dutch players without a licence.
The regulator revealed that 33 operators had submitted applications for licences by 1 November, with several applications still pending.
According to data, the self-exclusion CRUKS system, which went live on 4 October after a “malfunction” delayed its implementation, was “consulted” (checks to see if a player is self-excluded) nearly 15 million times, three million of which were a first-time checks, up until 1 November.
Finally, it was stated in the KSA report that the size of the Dutch gambling market was “considerably larger” than was first thought.
In August, H2 Gambling Capital pegged the market at €579m, but this was adjusted to €814m in October, while Regulus lifted its estimations from €590m to €859m.
The KSA added that the new estimates are still “on the conservative side”.