Netherlands online gambling market growth stalls two years after launch

[The Buzz]

As it marked the two-year anniversary since the Dutch regulated gambling market kicked off in October 2021, Kanspelautoriteit (KSA) has noted a noticeable deceleration in overall market expansion.

From the KSA press release:

The legal market for online gambling has grown again in the past six months. The gross gaming result (BSR; stake minus prizes paid) has increased, but that growth is less strong than in previously measured periods. The number of player accounts that were actually played remained virtually the same. This means that market growth appears to be leveling off after two years.

This is evident from the fifth monitoring report on online gambling (pdf, 204 kB) that the Gaming Authority (Ksa) published today. The BSR totaled 1.33 billion euros in the period August 2022 to July 2023. This means that the market has grown again, but less strongly than before. From August 2022 to January 2023, BSR grew by 33 percent. From January 2023 to August 2023 it was 8 percent.

René Jansen, chairman of the Gaming Authority:
This fifth monitoring report shows that the gaming market continues to grow, even if it is leveling off. This means that the market is developing as expected. The continued growth ensures increasing responsibility among providers. The Ksa continues to strictly monitor that Dutch players can gamble in a safe market, with sufficient attention to addiction prevention and insight into possible problematic gaming behavior. Duty of care and addiction prevention are a crucial part of our supervision.

Number of players

Dutch people collectively played with 826,000 active accounts in July 2023. Six months earlier, in January, there were 859,000. Because players can use more than one account, the number of accounts does not directly indicate the number of players. In its latest report, the Ksa estimates that 676,000 Dutch people have gambled online in the past six months; that is 4.7 percent of the adult population. An average of 417,000 Dutch people gambled per month.

Read the report here: https://kansspelautoriteit.nl/publis...aar_2023_1.pdf

[Instalinko]

It is also quite clear that the market is stalling when you look at actual FTDs.

[mickyfu]

It is also quite clear that the market is stalling when you look at actual FTDs.

Yes, gamblers are busy running to black market casinos. A job well done I'd say.

[Instalinko]

Haha quite likely

Yes, gamblers are busy running to black market casinos. A job well done I'd say.

[Pokerface]

I have to compare this to another heavily regulated industry that I spent many years working in.

As regulations increased, the black/grey market took advantage of the situation,

Governments thought their initiatives were working since the “measurable industry” was declining while, in fact, the industry continued to grow since the black/grey industry could not be measured - estimated at best.

Looking at the incidence of gambling/gamblers and value would be a better indication and identify the gap between the regulated industry versus the black market.

[NoDepositCasinos]

I'd like to think this is more of a publicity effort and that they're not naive enough to believe that the growth rate of online gambling is declining. If their genuine interest lies in prevention and addressing addiction, the focus should be on the unregulated market, where many of the most vulnerable are likely to go.

[ocreditor]

Yes, gamblers are busy running to black market casinos. A job well done I'd say.

This sums it all