A study carried out in the Netherlands at the end of 2018 showed that over 1.8 million Dutch people would gamble online for a fee.
This is an increase of 20 per cent over the previous survey, held in 2016. The survey was carried out by Motivaction on behalf of Holland Casino, the CEO of which, Erwin van Lambaart, said: “More and more Dutch people play online for a fee.
“While there is no legal regulation for these players, most of them do not realise that they are acting illegally and without any protection.”
The size of the online gambling market in the Netherlands was around €600m in 2018, estimated Motivaction. No tax was paid on the activities of foreign providers of online gambling services and therefore the Dutch government is losing tax revenue.
Said van Lambaart: “Online gambling can no longer be ignored in the Netherlands due to strong digitisation. Players will not stop on their own and the foreign providers certainly won’t miss that market.”
The Dutch Senate is to debate the issue next week, examining proposals to regulate online gambling. The Motivaction survey showed that only 25 per cent of all respondents are aware of the issues involved and at the same time by far the majority of the players would prefer to use an operator with a Dutch licence.
“Online players find a safe and responsible gaming environment itself very important. Strict but fair regulation of the market is a necessary condition for this,” said van Lambaart.
Motivaction Research is an agency that regularly researches the online gambling market. The survey in 2018 was the fourth time that the size of the online gambling market in the Netherlands had been investigated by the organisation. It was conducted with a questionnaire.
