Advertising is “crucial” to the success of gaming operators who might want to operate in the Netherlands infant online gaming industry.
That’s the message that Peter-Paul de Goeij, Managing Director of the Netherlands Online Gambling Association (NOGA) delivered to potential operators in the new Dutch market.
Interviewed on a Dutch podcast SBC Leaders, de Goeij declared, “Advertising is crucial when you want to channel consumers away from the illegal offer to the legal offer,” he explained. “If consumers don’t know that there is a legal offer out there how can they choose the legal offer? it’s crucial that new entrants and new members are able to advertise their offer to the Dutch public.”
He is also worried about the tendency “even before the market is opening up, that parties are basically buying advertising time ahead of the market opening.”
He warned against infighting among operators for the best sponsor contracts and to not go “over the line” and target youth.
So-called “incumbent” operators will have a head start on those seeking to enter the market. That’s because regulator Kansspelautoriteit’s (KSA) requires a cooling-off period for operators who targeted Dutch customers when iGaming wasn’t legal. Those operators will have to wait months or years to enter the market.
KSA has confirmed 10 online operator licensees, and plans to issue a total of 28 licenses.
The 1X2 Network, the casino content provider and aggregator, has entered the market with online slots and table games. It will be able to partner with any of the licensees to offer games such as Megaways Jack, Rock the Reels, Book of Loki and Cleopatra.
Operators will also be able access Branded Megaways from 1X2 Network, that will assist them in launching their own Megaways slots.
The Network’s CCO Kevin Reid said in a statement, “We are delighted to have received the necessary approvals to offer our award-winning slots and table games to operators in the newly-regulated Dutch market. This forms part of wider plans to secure licenses in core regulated markets around the world.”
1X2 Network currently operates in the UK, Isle of Man, Malta, Gibraltar, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Columbia, Greece, Romania and Germany.
Another operator that has gone live in the Netherlands online market is Evolution, which offers live casino, RNG-based games and slots through its NetEnt and Red Tiger brands through its partner Janshen-Hahnraths Group, operator of Fair Play Casinos brand and the operator of 38 land-based casinos in the country.
Gavin Hamilton, commercial director at Evolution, hailed the partnership: “We’re excited to be working with Janshen-Hahnraths Group and extending their Fair Play Casinos’ offering into the new Dutch online gambling market,” he said. “Our extensive online offering is a great fit for further developing their exciting games portfolio.”
Björn Fuchs, chief digital officer at Janshen-Hahnraths, commented,
“We have been planning for this day for a long time. We are absolutely delighted to now offer both existing and new Fair Play customers a fantastic choice of world-class online games.
“We are sure players will agree that the sheer quality and variety of the online games now available to our players on desktop and mobile at the Fair Play website has been well worth the wait.”
