Kansspelautoriteit (KSA/Dutch Gambling Authority) has reported that the increase in the number of gambling accounts in the Netherlands is stagnating and revenue growth is getting smaller.
The legal market for online gambling has grown in the past six months; but at a much slower rate than anticipated when compared to previously measured periods.
The number of player accounts remained virtually the same. Meanwhile, the gross gaming result (BSR; stake minus prizes paid) increased by 8% from January 2023 to August 2023; but that is a large decline in growth when compared to August 2022 to January 2023, where BSR grew by 33%.
René Jansen, Chairman of the Dutch Gaming Authority, commented: “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.”
From the findings of its fifth monitoring report, it stated that an average of 417,000 Dutch people gamble per month. The report also revealed that the amount gambled by players in the Netherlands is an average of €1,017 ($1,068) per player for the period January 2023 to July which converts to €170 per month.
Meanwhile, the number of registrations in the Central Register for the Exclusion of Gambling (Cruks) continues to increase. In August (the benchmark of the monitoring report) there were more than 48,000 people in Cruks. When the report was published in September, that number had surpassed 50,000.
Dr Alan Littler covered this topic at Regulating the Game 2023 in London. Click here to read Gambling Insider's coverage of the event.
