The Netherlands’ government has published the secondary gambling regulations underpinning the measures set out in the Remote Gaming Act, adding a ban on using sports teams in advertisements, even though the sponsorship will be permitted, and brings some changes in the bonusing rules.
Through these new regulations, the Dutch Government establishes the way in which online gambling activities will take place in the Netherlands, as soon as their legalization takes place at the end of this year.
Earlier versions of the regulations forbade gambling companies to use high-performance athletes in advertising to protect young people, as it was said that these athletes could be seen as role models. In the latest version, non-sports stars have been added, especially attractive for young people.
However, following the consultations, it was pointed out that “sports teams are also role models for minors and young people”, which led to their inclusion in the ban, with the only exception provided for the sponsorship of sports clubs.
While the Government mentioned that some gambling operators might be concerned about the effect that these marketing restrictions could have on funneling, it said that the protection of players is more important and argued that funneling should not be a goal in itself, but rather is valuable only if the regulated market protected players.
The rules also stipulate that the processing fee for licenses is set at EUR 48,000.
Also, in the legislation sent for publication, a series of sporting events are presented at which the operators cannot accept bets. Thus, in football, it is forbidden to offer bets in the Dutch third division or less, in matches where the participants are under the age of 21 or younger and friendly matches that are not organized by the global governing body FIFA.
Bets on major sporting events, such as the main Dutch national football, Uefa and FIFA competitions, ATP and WTA tennis, horse racing organized by the Dutch Trotting and Racing Foundation, or European or global sports governing bodies will be allowed automatically. All other events will require an analysis to be submitted in advance.
Another set of changes was implemented after consultations, namely: bonuses can be offered to players who do not explicitly choose to receive them, and the 60-day restriction on bonuses for players who received an intervention due to their gambling habits luck has now changed, so that the duration of the restriction now depends on the type of intervention made, lighter-touch interventions with shorter restrictions and more direct actions, taking a longer period of time.
With the new changes, lottery providers are no longer required to participate in addiction prevention courses, as other operators do, as lotteries are not required to implement the same intervention policy, so it has been established that the course would be ” superfluous ”.
The new regulations also introduce a ban on providing timed bonuses and an important requirement for gambling operators to carry out risk analyzes of all their games.
It highlights the ways in which operators must intervene when a player shows signs of problematic behavior and sets various technical standards, such as those for the Cruks self-exclusion system.
The Dutch law on remote gambling is due to enter into force on 1 April, and the online market is set to open six months later.
Initially, the KOA was scheduled to become law on July 1, 2020, with the market opening six months later in early 2021. However, in November 2019, the start date of the act was pushed back by six months, which means that the market will open on July 1, 2021.
In September 2020, the launch was rejected again until September 2021. Last month, Minister of Legal Protection Sander Dekker announced a third delay of one month.
Dekker said this was because he felt that slower implementation would mean a stronger regulatory environment.
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