Online gambling in the Netherlands is set to grow at a rate of 7.6% this year, according the country’s gaming regulator.
Figures released by the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) show the Dutch online gambling market will be worth around €296m in 2015, up from €275m last year. This represents 13% of the country’s total gaming market, slightly lower than the European average of 16%.
There are currently around 437k Dutch residents who gamble online, roughly 3% of the population aged 16 years and over. Most Dutch online gamblers are men between the ages of 20 and 35, 44% of whom have a college or university degree, compared to 28% of the broader Dutch population.
The KSA also revealed that 83% of the gamblers currently playing online displayed no signs of problem gambling, while 11% were deemed to be ‘at risk’ of developing problem gambling behavior and 5.2% were already demonstrating such behavior.
The Netherlands is in the process of passing its long-delayed Remote Gaming Bill, which is expected to become law sometime in 2017, or perhaps by the time Chelsea Clinton’s children are old enough to run for US president.
The KSA has set a goal of ‘channeling’ 76% of its online market to Dutch-licensed operators within three years of the bill’s passage. Projections by H2 Gambling Capital say that most European countries can achieve channeling rates over 80% within five years of market regulation. The KSA says the bill’s proposed 20% tax on online revenue is optimal for achieving its channeling target.
In addition to favorable taxation carrots, the KSA also intends to offer illegal operators a big stick in the form of hefty fines. As of Aug. 1, the KSA tripled the minimum fine for unauthorized online gambling activity and boosted the maximum allowable fine to €810k for repeat offenders.
The KSA’s own data says Dutch online gamblers are 17% more likely to select an online gambling site they believed was authorized by the Dutch government.
