The surge of the illicit market has plagued the Netherlands for many years, but it appears that the government could be set to take action.
State Secretary for Justice and Security, Arno Rutte, labelled the trajectory of illegal gambling in the country as ‘worrying’, with the government set to further embolden the KSA when it comes to thwarting the illicit sector.
Rutte was responding to parliamentary questions issued by CDA MP Jeltje Straatman in December last year about the uptick of illegal operators in the Dutch iGaming market.
An increase in black market operators “may indicate a higher risk of harm to people who gamble there and a higher risk of gambling-related crime and fraud”, according to Rutte, and factors such as gambling limits, duty of care interventions or taxes could be behind the rise.
He stated: “Some players assess the (financially) attractiveness of a game and then switch to illegal gambling. In this context, the KSA observes that a limited percentage of players currently play with illegal providers, but lose a significant amount of money there.”
Rutte also provided optimism for the industry as he underpinned an urgency when it comes to eradicating the black market.
“This underscores the need to combat illegal providers more effectively, in addition to regulating licensed gambling,” he stated.
Empowering the KSA
To tackle the illegal market, the State Secretary noted that the Dutch gambling authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), is targeting operators and all facilitating components – payment providers, internet providers and marketing companies – as well as removing websites with ‘best casinos without Cruks’ branding.
Rutte added that websites that have .nl domains can be taken down through the Netherlands Internet Domain Registration Foundation (SIDN) if they violate Dutch regulations, but they must independently determine the violation. However, action against non .nl websites is more difficult.
In addition, a bill was confirmed to be in preparation to help the KSA tackle the black market, with outlines of the intended legislative amendments following the evaluation of the Remote Gambling Act to be presented during this quarter.
As such, Rutte stated that he is analysing how the KSA “can intervene more effectively to make illegal websites inaccessible to people in the Netherlands” with the hope that the KSA “can tackle many websites in a short time”.
When asked by Straatman if any measures can be taken in the meantime, the State Secretary responded that such actions are limited.
“In most cases, the KSA’s decision to make websites inaccessible requires further legal support, so this cannot be initiated before a potential new law has taken effect.”
Movement of heavy gamblers
Dutch gambling policy and its effectiveness were also questioned in relation to the decline in gross gaming revenue among licensed operators. Rutte replied that no conclusions can be drawn on its effectiveness and the drop is partly due to protective measures introduced in October 2024, resulting in a decrease in average monthly loss per player.
“To that extent, I consider the policy effective. However, it is concerning that gross gaming profits in the illegal market have increased.”
Rutte also agrees with the KSA that many heavy gamblers are playing on illegal platforms, so policy focuses on improving legal gambling player protection and combating the black market, highlighting prevention, education and referral to help and support.
A multi-year agenda is being put together to address this, alongside the KSA and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, with updates to come later this quarter. The State Secretary is also willing to bolster regulations at a European level to structurally prevent access to illegal operators and is exploring how this can be achieved.
