Dutch Lower House Passes Remote Gaming Bill
Last week, the Dutch Lower House, with a large majority, passed a bill to regulate online gaming in the country for the first time.
Before the bill was voted on, a large number of amendments was adopted, some of which were necessary to guarantee sufficient support for the draft law in the Senate.
How the final version of the bill will impact various stakeholders, including incumbent operators, affiliates, and consumers, is outlined here.
Unfortunately, the Lower House's decision to opt for a tax rate of 29% of GGR will likely result in a larger-than-necessary black market, warns gaming consultancy firm Regulus Partners:
“The Dutch regulator might be initially relieved by the lower workload of a smaller number of licensees, but it is likely that Dutch online customers will find a good deal more supply than the half-dozen or so operators likely to be profitable in such a high tax environment. This will reduce the real tax yield on Dutch online gambling spend, while also increasing the long-term problems of un(POC)regulated online gambling facing the Dutch government.”
Next Step: the Senate
Because of the broad support of the remote gaming bill in the Lower House, the draft law is expected to easily pass the Senate.
The Senate's Permanent Committee for Security and Justice has been scheduled to discuss the bill on October 4, 2016. The committee may then choose to request additional information on the bill from the government or to move the bill forward to a plenary debate and vote.
If there are no unexpected delays, the Senate will likely approve the remote gaming bill in late 2016, or early 2017, which means the bill could be implemented as early as Q3 of 2017.
Live Gaming Summit Will Bring Industry Representatives to Barcelona this Fall
The live dealer games segment has seen rapid growth over the last few years, including in the Netherlands. The availability of new technologies, as well as high speed internet access, is making the segment increasingly attractive to both customers and operators.
According to H2 Gambling Capital, the segment “live,” as part of the European online casino market, now exceeds 25 percent – and keeps growing.
Gaming in Holland and iGaming Business are therefore jointly organizing a Live Gaming Summit, which will take place on September 27, 2016, at the gorgeous Miramar Hotel, offering spectacular views of the Port and City of Barcelona.
Registration is now open!
Ministry of Security and Justice Publishes Charity Lottery Licensing Rules and Conditions
Earlier today, the Ministry of Security and Justice published the conditions applicants for a charity lottery license need to fulfill in order to be granted a license.
All current Dutch lottery licenses will expire on December 31, 2016. Contrary to the present situation, the subsequent lottery regime will no longer feature a fixed number of licensees.
Staatsloterij / De Lotto Combination to Continue as “Nederlandse Loterij”
Recently merged Dutch lotteries Staatsloterij and De Lotto revealed their new corporate structure, as well as their new brand name: Nederlandse Loterij (“Dutch Lottery”).
Nederlandse Loterij also announced a major media campaign, which is set to start today.
As we reported earlier, the new combination is also looking to enter the online market and to “offer every variety of game that the remote gaming bill allows,” i.e., including casino games and sports betting.
Earlier this week, Dutch daily De Telegraaf also published an interview (€) with Frans van Steenis, CEO of the newly merged lottery and gaming combination.
Other News
The Venlo branch of Holland Casino will soon start building a brand new casino, which is scheduled to open in December 2018.
Following last week's refusal of the Dutch Lower House to grant the national gaming regulator IP blocking powers, the Canadian province of Quebec is now facing a legal challenge against its plans to implement IP and DNR blocking in order to combat illegal gambling sites.
Portugal has issued its second sports betting license under the country’s new online gambling licensing regime to Malta-based Bet Entertainment Technologies Ltd.
Ladbrokes and rival firm Gala Coral could complete their merger as early as this week.
North Korea is claimed to be raking in the big bucks by operating illegal online gambling businesses.