The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), Netherlands’ local gambling regulator, had prepared ten licenses for online betting operations as regulated gambling dawns in the country.
Ten Lucky Operators Get Their Licenses
The Netherlands has been steadily moving toward creating a healthy and regulated online gambling ecosystem. It just issued ten licenses that have been distributed among some of the several dozen applicants.
Local names were among the first who were approved for operation. Those include Betent, Bingoal, FPO Netherlands BV, Holland Casino, and TOTO Online BV. They were followed by several multinational names in European gambling, such as Bet365, GGPoker, LiveScore, Play North Limited, and tombola.
Holland Casino chairman Erwin van Lambaart is happy to be one of the first licensed operators. He added that the next important step is to make Dutch people want to play through exciting, safe, and responsible offerings.
All of the approved operators will be able to launch on October 1 when the country’s regulated online betting market arrives. The 10 pioneers will have the opportunity to establish themselves on the fresh market before their competitors who are still awaiting approval but will also have the responsible task of paving the way for betting’s future in the country and giving gambling a good image.
René Jansen, chairman of the Kansspelautoriteit, revealed that the criteria for accepting an application were very high. He added that the KSA was largely taking in mind how devoted operators were to prevent gambling-related harm.
The KSA to Maintain a High Standard
Because of the high standard expected by the KSA, many of Europe’s top guns are yet to receive a license for the Dutch market. With only ten licenses and 29 operators wanting to be first, there was a fearsome competition. Some betting giants were left out, awaiting the next batch of licenses. However one in three is still a quite favorable number, considering that the KSA expected up to 125 applications.
The next licenses are expected to arrive within the near future. When that happens, the KSA promises to be just as diligent in picking who will get a license to operate in the Netherlands. The country recently doubled down on its efforts to push unlicensed operators away from the Dutch market.
This was done because several unlicensed sites actively target Dutch bettors with their gambling offerings. The Netherlands promised to issue bans and sanctions to any such sites that use a .nl domain, are written in Dutch and target Dutch gamblers, have been advertised in the country, including the Netherlands’ national symbols or any other clear indication of targeting the local populace and allow users to pay with iDEAL.
Unibet and Betfair are among the operators who received a several months ban after breaking those rules according to the regulator. Tipico, on the other hand, was investigated by the KSA. The investigation ended with a fine, even though the operator denies targeting the Dutch betting community.
The KSA demands all unlicensed operators to voluntarily cease their operations before October 1 when the regulated alternative rolls out.