Netherlands Reels in 200 Online Applicants

Sat, Apr 11, 2015

Two hundred companies have applied for licenses to offer online gambling in the Netherlands. The Dutch parliament will take up a possible expansion of the country’s online gaming market sometime this spring.

Market could double in value in two years

Residents of the Netherlands reportedly spend between €250 million (US$268 million) and €800 million (US$860 million) on illegal online gambling each year. The Dutch parliament is now weighing the viability of legal digital casinos, and applicants are lining up. In recent months, a reported 200 prospective casino operators have thrown their hats in the ring.

Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit opened the bidding in December. In January, the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justices announced a draft proposal of the Modernization Casinos Regime Act that would regulate remote gaming, open the land-based market to foreign operators and privatize casinos in Holland.

According to Casinorelease.com, the Netherlands are reportedly the seventh largest gaming market in the European Union. A legal online market could generate €200 million (US$215 million) in gross gaming revenue in its first year, and almost double it to €370 million (US$398 million) in 2016.

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