The Netherlands’ new minority government has laid out plans to fully ban gambling ads and potentially restrict the online licences available within the market.
In its agreement, published on 30 January, the three-party coalition government took a seemingly hard stance on gambling, comparing it to sex work in the country.
“Online gambling and sex work are legal in the Netherlands, but they are also susceptible to crime and human trafficking. We want to protect vulnerable people in these sectors from profiteers,” the agreement said.
“We are strengthening the duty of care of online gambling providers, cracking down on illegal gambling sites, and introducing a complete advertising ban on online gambling. We are exploring limiting the number of licenses for online gambling sites.”
The coalition merges the centrist D66 Party with the conservative Christian Democrats and the right-wing VVD Party following the country’s October general election. No party secured a majority vote in the snap election which followed the collapse of the previous government, led by Dick Schoof.
Months of deliberation followed the election and last week the three-party coalition was formally revealed, alongside its 67-page agreement. A new cabinet is expected to be sworn later this month.
The previous government had pledged to reform online gambling regulations and publish a new Gambling Act by the end of 2025. Its term was cut short, however, following disagreements on asylum policy within the former coalition.
Former State Secretary for Legal Protection Teun Struycken joined other cabinet members in resigning in August over blocked sanctions against Israel. Struycken’s portfolio included gambling, and he was leading reform actions within the department.
The coalition’s ultimate collapse left these developments in limbo, until the new coalition government’s agreement was revealed last week.
Challenging relationship between regulator and policy makers
Speaking to iGB at ICE in January, the chairman of Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), Michel Groothuizen, hinted the regulator’s relationship with politicians was generally quite strained, regardless of which government is in power.
“The industry is not too welcomed by most [political] parties. The analysis we come up with and measures we propose are seen as perhaps a bit too pragmatic,” he said. Groothuizen has spoken publicly about the challenges he faces in working with policymakers. He has pushed back against a number of policies suggested by politicians in the past, including raising the legal gambling age and a total ban on gambling ads.
Groothuizen most recently told iGB that the minority coalition in government would face challenges in receiving support for and passing measures. He said it was the first minority coalition in the Netherlands in over 100 years.
He did say that politicians were willing to have an open discussion with the regulator and ask questions about the current policy, which he considered positive.
Ad ban will push players into black market
Gambling trade body VNLOK has warned a total ad ban could drive activity to the black market. In a statement published on Friday, Björn Fuchs, chairman of VNLOK, said a total ban on advertising would undermine the Netherlands’ current gambling policy, which is “deliberately designed around an open, regulated market with strict requirements for duty of care, advertising and oversight”.
VNLOK cited KSA figures which indicate the black market in the Netherlands is growing. In October, the regulator reported that revenue to the black market had surpassed that of the legal market in H1 2025.
GGR for the legal market in H1 hit €600 million in the Netherlands. Six months earlier, it was 16% higher at €697 million. This, the KSA said, was partly due to the introduction of new rules to better protect players, including a deposit limit.
Not the first time Dutch gambling ad ban has been proposed
This isn’t the first time the Netherlands has proposed a total ban on gambling ads. In July 2023 advertising was heavily restricted, with ads across TV, radio and in print not allowed.
Advertising online was also adapted to ensure that targeting advertising was not being shown to consumers under the age of 24. Gambling sponsorships also ended in summer of 2025.
As for licensing, 2026 marks five years since the launch of the Netherlands’ legal iGaming market. This year licensees must renew their licences to remain in the market. Rumours last year suggested the regulator would not reinstate licences to those that had faced compliance failings during the five years. But this was dismissed by the KSA during a closed-door meeting in October.
Instead, it said it would ask for learnings from those that had faced enforcement action to better understand how the operator has remedied the issue.
At the time, local lawyer Justin Franssen told iGB: “The gambling authority strives to make the reapplication process as smoothly as possible.”
VNLOK’s Bjorn Fuchs added: “If you have a clean sheet, there are some hoops, but for various modules you can just send a declaration which states that you’re compliant.”