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The authority published a letter to licence holders in the country, which echoed the words of Minister of Gambling Policy Franc Weerwind during a debate in the House of Representatives – in which he asked providers of games of chance to take care around advertising during the sporting event.
Since online gambling became legal on 1 October 2021, there has been a slew of advertisements based around gambling in the Netherlands, culminating in legislation being drawn up to ban untargeted advertising for high-risk games of chance.
René Jansen, chairman of the KSA, said in a statement following the letter: “The image of the gambling sector and individual gambling companies is not very good. The bombardment of advertising after the opening of the legal market did not help.
“I hope that lesson has been learned. The aim of legalising online games of chance was to create a safe environment for people who want to participate in games of chance online.
“Some form of advertising is necessary to draw attention to the legal offer. But gambling companies need to realise that another tidal wave of advertising is counterproductive.”
Furthermore, the KSA reminded people that since 30 June 2022, well-known Dutch people are not allowed to appear in marketing campaigns for gambling – while any advertising that targets vulnerable groups, such as young adults or minors, is also strictly prohibited.
