The Dutch Government submitted the country’s secondary gambling regulations to the country’s official gazettes, adding a ban on using sports teams in advertisements and changing some rules around bonuses.
The Dutch Remote Gambling Act was delayed a third time last month and is now set to come into effect on 1 April, with the online market set to open six months later.
Bonuses may now be offered to players who do not explicitly opt in to receiving them. In addition, the blanket 60-day restriction on bonuses for players who have received an intervention because of their gambling habits has now been altered so that the length of the restriction now depends on the type of intervention made. In addition, lottery providers are no longer required to engage in addiction prevention courses as other operators are, as lotteries are not required to implement the same intervention policy, so it was determined that the course would be “superfluous."
In addition, certain sporting events may not be available for wagering. In football, there would be a ban on offering bets matches in the Dutch third division or lower, matches in under-21 or younger age categories and friendly matches not organised by global governing body Fifa.
From iGaming Business:
Read more here: https://igamingbusiness.com/dutch-on...icial-gazette/The regulations, which had largely been submitted in consultations and to the European Commission, set out how online gambling may be conducted in the Netherlands once the vertical is legalised later this year.
Earlier versions of the regulations already banned gambling businesses from using individual athletes in advertising in an effort to protect young people, as it said these athletes were likely to be seen as role models. Non-sporting celebrities with particular appeal to young people were later added as well.
However, respondents to consultations pointed out that “sports teams are also role models for minors and young adults”, prompting these to also be covered by the ban, with an exception carved out for sponsorship of sports clubs.
While the Government noted that some gambling operators may be concerned about the effect these marketing restrictions could have on channelisation, it said that player protection was more important, and argued that channelisation should not be an end in itself but rather was only valuable if the regulated market protected players.
The rules also state that the processing fee for licences is set at €48,000.