GiH Webinar | Responsible gaming for licensed operators: Obligations, implementation, and technical solution
Next week, on March 10 at 3PM CET we conclude our webinar series on preparing for your remote license application by looking at operators’ responsible gaming obligations.
As previously announced, the Dutch Remote Gaming Act establishes a wide range of responsible gaming (RG) obligations for licensed operators, including a local RG representative, as well as mandated contacts with addiction care professionals and experiential experts.
In this webinar, we will look at these legal obligations in detail and consider avenues for practical implementation and technical solutions.
With the Dutch responsible gaming model expected to set the new standard, this webinar may also be of interest to those working in other European jurisdictions.
Speakers:
Sharif Ibrahim, Kalff Katz & Franssen
Pieter Remmers, Assissa
Peter Emil Tybirk, Mindway AI
Don't miss it! Register today: https://bit.ly/3uPaxlj
Please note: from now on, all our upcoming webinars will be listed at www.gaminginholland.com/webinars!
NOGA Online Gambling Barometer: 20% of Dutch young adults gambled online in 2020
On Monday, the Netherlands Online Gambling Association (NOGA) officially presented itself during an online webinar to industry stakeholders and other interested parties.
As part of its launch presentation, NOGA shared the first results of the annual NOGA Online Gambling Barometer: a multi-year data-driven study into the state of the Dutch (online) gambling market. The NOGA Barometer is an annual market survey conducted by internationally renowned market research agency Ipsos.
According to the zero measurement of the NOGA Barometer, 20% of young adults (18-34) in the Netherlands gambled online at least once in 2020. The overall number of Dutch adults who gambled online during the past twelve months is still significantly lower at 12%.
Among adults who gambled online, 55% participated in online sports betting, 41% in online casino games, and 38% spent money on video games that do not fully meet the characteristics of traditional games of chance.
“When a younger audience becomes increasingly active on the gambling market, regulation is of paramount importance,” NOGA Managing Director Peter-Paul de Goeij said.
De Goeij: “A safe, responsible and attractive online gambling offering is extremely important to NOGA. The existence of a regulated online gambling sector can only be justified by a product offering that has been proven to be safe and responsible.
The full webinar is available here.
Dutch regulator to poll interest in remote gaming licenses
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has called on prospective remote license applicants who intend to submit their applications between April 1 and April 15 to inform the regulator of said intention before March 15.
The Dutch regulator has requested this information in order to be able on to assign an appropriate number of staff to the processing of remote license applications from April 1 onward.
In related news, the Netherlands Gambling Authority also announced the winners of its 2020 thesis awards.
Maurits Knoop won the KSA's Master's Thesis Award for his thesis “Dutch casino regulation: The effects on the key resources & capabilities and strategies to succeed in this regulated market,” in which he investigated the respective competitive advantages of land-based casinos and arcade halls.
Amarins Veringa won the KSA Bachelor's Thesis Award for her study into the self-reported wellbeing and happiness of lottery winners, titled “Winning big but not Feeling Better? Explaining Counterintuitive Findings in Happiness Research Using Response Shift.”
International operators face court claims in Austria and Germany
Unlicensed online operators targeting Austria and Germany have been hit by legal claims from customers trying to reclaim their losses.
Operators implicated include some of the industry’s biggest names in bet365, Betfair, Bwin, LeoVegas, 888, Interwetten, PokerStars and William Hill.
The legal claims center around Austrian and German gambling laws, which state that only licensed operators may offer online gambling.
Historically, international operators have used the protection of article 56 of the Treaty for the Functioning of the EU, which provides for the freedom to promote and deliver goods and services throughout the EU. However, that law can be overridden where there is a public health imperative.
In Germany, several cases have already resulted in (lower court) victories for the claimants.
Upcoming events
The following events may be of interest to the GiH community.
Events
SiGMA Europe has been rescheduled to 13 – 15 April, 2021.
The third edition of CasinoBeats Summit will return to Malta from May 18 – 20, 2021, as part of Spring iGaming Week organized in partnership with KPMG and Gaming Malta.
The Betting on Sports America conference and expo has been scheduled for 8 – 10 June, 2021 and will bring together all the major players in the fast-growing North American sports betting industry.
iGB Live and iGB Affiliate have also been moved to 28 September – 1 October, 2021, but will still take place in Amsterdam!
The 2021 Gaming in Holland Conference has been scheduled for October 1, 2021 – the very day that the regulated Dutch online market finally opens. Netherlands Gambling Authority chairman René Jansen has agreed to deliver the keynote speech. Save the date!
The World Gaming Executive Summit is returning live on 6 – 8 December, 2021 at the W Hotel, Barcelona.
ICE London and iGB Affiliate London have been postponed to 1 – 3 February, 2022.
Webinars and virtual events
Mindway AI has published an on-demand webinar on player profiling and efficient responsible gaming interventions.
The IMGL Virtual Conference, which takes place 8 – 12 March, 2021, will include a session on emerging regulated markets in the Netherlands and Germany.
Join the iGaming Next Power Hour every Friday @3pm CET for a short, compact, educational and social weekly digital gathering with some of the brightest and most connected minds of the industry.
Webinar report | Necessary services: How & where to get them
During yesterday's Gaming in Holland webinar “Necessary services: How & where to get them” seven suppliers of essential services showcased their products. The webinar was introduced by Kester Mekenkamp, attorney at Kalff Katz & Franssen, who provided a brief summary of the main legal issues surrounding supplier contracts.
In case you missed it, the full webinar can be viewed here: https://bit.ly/387ddRs
The contact details of yesterday's speakers can be found below:
Interxion (data center services): Joël Altyzer, Senior Account Manager, joela@interxion.com
Pretty Technical (data vault services) : Julian Borg-Barthet, Director of Business Development, julian@prettytechnical.io
CDDN (KYC/CRUKS compliance): Martijn de Boer, Founder, m.de.boer@cddn.nl
Finnplay (platform provider): Brian Forth, Marketing Manager, brian.forth@finnplay.com
DGA (platform provider): Henk Wolff, Chief Marketing Officer, henk@dutchga.com
Stakelogic (game developer): Stephan van den Oetelaar, CEO, stephan@stakelogic.com
Gamanza (platform provider): Robert Civill, Director of Business Development, robert@gamanza.com
Other news
For the thirteenth time, leading Dutch gaming lawyer Justin Franssen of law firm Kalff Katz & Franssen has been awarded a “Band 1” ranking in Chambers Global Edition 2021 in the category “Global Market Leaders (Gaming & Gambling).”
Verslavingskunde Nederland (the Dutch Addiction Association) has called on its members to refuse future cooperation with online gambling operators.
Dutch MP Atje Kuijken has submitted Parliamentary questions to the Ministry of Justice, implicitly requesting a much stricter interpretation of the cooling-off criteria.
Dutch television program Opgelicht?! (“Swindled?!”) featured an item detailing the apparently fraudulent refusal of Malta-licensed online casino GSlot to pay out on a winning bet. An affiliate representing GSlot's owner, N1 Interactive Limited, also appears to be responsible for hacking several Dutch websites.
Sports betting supplier Kambi Group has signed a multi-year extension to its partnership with Belgian operator Napoleon Sports & Casino.
Sweden’s licensed gambling market generated SEK24.7bn in revenue in 2020, representing a slight decrease from 2019 figures according to the latest data from the Swedish Gambling Authority.
Flutter Entertainment has reported a 28% increase in total group revenue to £5.2bn during 2020.
Spanish online operator association Jdigital has signed an agreement with the Spanish Federation of Rehabilitated Gamblers (Fejar), under which the association’s members will incorporate a free phone number for assistance and therapy, managed by Fejar, on their platforms.
Ukraine’s Committee on Finance, Tax and Customs Policy has at long last approved a gambling tax bill for the country, setting a flat 10% rate for all forms of gambling.