The Netherlands faces an impending blanket gambling advertising ban by the KSA effective 1 July 2025. We look ahead to its aims, implementation, and the reservations shared by former KSA chair René Jansen on its merits.
In 2023, the Netherlands enacted a far-reaching ban on non-targeted advertising for online gambling. This included ads on television, radio, in print and publicly accessible environments, which was extended to programme and event sponsorship in July last year.
However, in recognising that sports sponsorships often involve long-term contracts, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) allowed a two-year transition period for such agreements, which ceases at the end of June 2025, marking the final step in the broader gambling advertising reform strategy that began two years ago.
No new sponsorship deals involving gambling companies have been allowed since July 2023, and from the 1st of July 2025, even existing deals will be considered in breach of the law.
Implementation of the Gambling Ad Ban
Dutch gambling authorities are now gearing up for the full implementation of the country's ban on sports sponsorship by gambling operators, and the regulator has reiterated that it will adopt a strict enforcement stance and take immediate action against any violators.
In a KSA press release, the regulator’s chairman, Michel Groothuizen, emphasised this stance, stating:
Quote“This law was drawn up to protect young adults and other vulnerable groups. You do that by preventing them from being exposed to gambling advertising, regardless of who the advertising comes from. We at KSA will be very vigilant about that.”
This vigilance included the regulator requesting details from online casinos about any sponsorship or advertising deals they had in place.
The scope of the advertising ban includes the outlawing of all forms of gambling sponsorship in sport. This includes promotional deals with individual athletes, teams, leagues, competitions, club front-of-shirt advertising, as well as banners or branded accessories.
Reservations About a Blanket Ad Ban?
The former KSA chairman, René Jansen, expressed his doubts about the merits of a blanket ban on gambling advertising.
Speaking at the Gaming in Holland conference last June, the then KSA chief made his views clear, saying:
Quote“If it was up to a majority of the House, all gambling adverts would be banned, but I have already expressed my doubts as to whether this would be appropriate.”
He added that the Remote Gambling Act enables licensees to offer an “appropriate and attractive range of games” to nullify the presence of the illegal market, noting that this would only be possible if players were properly aware of whether a game was legal or not, and that would surely require some form of advertising.
Since the opening of the market in 2021, operators have faced a series of changes, including the ban on untargeted advertising, online deposit limits and tax hikes. In January of this year, the tax on operators increased to 34.2%, with a further hike to 37.8% of GGR mandated for next year.
These measures haven’t had the desired effect, and a review of the Netherlands Online Gambling Act in November 2024 dismissed player protection efforts as ineffective, so whether the impending blanket gambling advertising ban will impact player safety remains to be seen.
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