A quick summary of the Gaming in Holland Webinar

On the 16th of May 2023 a Gaming in Holland Webinar took place, titled ‘Making sense of the new Dutch online gambling advertising restrictions’. During this Webinar, our own Dr. Alan Littler discussed the newly announced ban on targeted advertising which will enter into force on the 1^st of July. Alan was accompanied by Peter-Paul de Goeij, Managing Director of the Netherlands Online Gambling Association (NOGA) and Willem van Oort from Gaming in Holland.

The focus of this Webinar was the upcoming ban on untargeted advertising as per the 1^st of July 2023, which was announced last summer. This ban is meant to regulate untargeted advertising for remote gambling, meaning it does not apply to physical casinos and offline slot machines and arcade halls.
One of the key elements of this ban is that it prohibits all forms of advertising other than online channels. This means that advertising on television, radio or posters in bus stops will become illegal, as well as sponsoring for sports events (following the expiry of the transitional regime for existing sponsorship deals).

• When online advertisements are used to promote remote gambling, these advertisements are subject to three cumulative conditions, which the gentlemen further elaborated on during the Webinar. These are as follows:
  • The potential recipients of the advertisements should have the possibility of opting out of receiving the advertisements;
  • The operator has to ensure that the best available measures are taken to ensure that the advertisement does not reach those who have opted out of receiving, and has to ensure that the advertisements do not reach any of the vulnerable groups and young adults (those aged 18-24);
  • The best possible measures have to be taken to demonstrate that at least 95% of those who receive the gambling advertising materials, are older than 24 years.

How online advertising is going to take form, remains to be seen. It should still possible to advertise through video platforms, through informative (affiliate) websites and for example through online radio, but further guidance from the Netherlands the Dutch Gambling Authority on how they will interpret the new ban on untargeted advertising is still pending. As long as three cumulative conditions mentioned above are met then such advertising will be permitted. The gentlemen elaborated on the challenges with complying with the conditions.

Click on the following link to watch the Webinar and learn more:

https://youtu.be/cfqpKZkTAC0