Save the date | GiH drinks with special guest Fred Teeven – November 23
Join us on Thursday, November 23 from 17:30 until 19:30 to discuss the outcome of the Dutch Lower House elections the day prior.
The informal gathering will feature Fred Teeven, former state secretary and architect of the Dutch online gambling legislation, as our special guest.
The meet-up will take place in Amsterdam.
As places are limited, registration is required. Priority will be given to partners and past conference visitors.
If you would like to attend this event, please send an email to rsvp@gaminginholland.com
Hommerson Amusement receives 27th Dutch remote license
Hommerson Amusement, which operates ten land-based slots arcades in the Netherlands, has received the country's 27th remote gambling license.
The license covers online casino games, but not sports betting or poker. At present, it is unclear when the Netherlands’ latest online licensee will go live.
Meanwhile, LeoVegas, another recent remote license recipient, has now gone live in the Netherlands.
FDJ completes acquisition of ZEturf
French national lottery operator Française des Jeux (FDJ) has finalized its acquisition of online horse racing betting operator ZEturf Group.
The announcement completes a process that began in November last year when FDJ struck the acquisition deal. The transaction places ZEturf’s value at €175m..
Completion comes after the French Competition Authority gave its approval to the deal last month.
ZEturf's Dutch subsidiary, ZEbetting & Gaming, holds the local monopoly on land-based horse race betting, and also offers online horse race and sports betting in the country.
Upcoming events
The following event(s) may be of interest to the GiH community.
The 2023 Gaming in Germany Conference has been scheduled to take place October 16, 2023, in Berlin. Benjamin Schwanke, Co-Chair of Germany federal gambling regulator, GGL, will be the event's keynote speaker.
Netherlands’ National Rapporteur on Addictions publishes 22 recommendations to limit gambling harm
The Netherlands’ National Rapporteur on Addictions (Nationaal Rapporteur Verslavingen – NRV), has published a report with 22 recommendations on how to limit and prevent gambling-related harm.
The report proposes the introduction of several far-reaching measures, such cross-operator deposit limits, making operators liable if they fail to carry out their duty of care, slowing down online slot games, introducing additional gambling advertising restrictions.
The 22 recommendations are based on discussions with “a large number of stakeholders,” as well as a perceived significant increase in the number of online gamblers since the Netherlands’ regulated online gambling market opened in October 2021.
Licensed operators, however, were deliberately excluded from these discussions, as even talking to them would endanger the independence of the advice, the rapporteur said.
Björn Fuchs, Chief Digital Officer at Janshen-Hahnraths Group and board member of trade association VNLOK, criticized the rapporteur's refusal to meet with gambling operators. Even more importantly, Fuchs also pointed out that the assumption that most players in the regulated online gambling market did not gamble online before is at least questionable and may very well be untrue – especially if long-term player behavior prior to the arbitrary cut-off date of June 2021 is also considered. Not all active players are active every month.
Naturally, if there has been no drastic increase in the number of online players, the proposed measures may very well be disproportionate.
Other news
Fantasy sports game provider Zweeler has gone offline in the Netherlands after the
Netherlands Gambling Authority threatened to issue conditional penalties of up to €850.000.
The latest issue of Online Gambling Quarterly – with a special focus on the US and LatAm – is now available.
Lottoland founder David von Rosen is aiming to launch a Dubai-based lottery with a guaranteed $1bn jackpot.
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