The Netherlands is moving toward a total ban on online gambling advertising even as the licensed market's share has dropped to 49% of gross gaming revenue in early 2025. The package presented in June by state secretary Claudia van Bruggen includes a ban on welcome bonuses, a single deposit limit across all operators, and an expanded self-exclusion register CRUKS.
The decision follows the failure of earlier restrictions. Untargeted advertising has been banned since July 2023, sports sponsorship since July 2025. Tax on GGR rose to 37.8%. The black market is now estimated at over €1bn a year, roughly matching the legal one. Trade body VNLOK counted more than 70,000 gambling ads on Meta platforms in Q4 2025 alone; over 95% came from unlicensed operators. Meta removed fewer than 5%.
'Around 95% of gambling advertising in Dutch social media already comes from the black market', says Justin Franssen, partner at law firm Franssen Tolboom. A total ban will hand the entire stage to illegal operators and strip licensed ones of any way to signal a protected alternative. Regulator KSA itself has questioned whether a full ban would work.
Denmark tightened rules last October and saw channelisation fall from 90% to 70% over three years. Italy has lived under a near-total advertising ban since 2018; its illegal market is estimated at €22bn. 'It's a pretty safe bet that the Dutch approach carries a risk the regulated market will not survive', said Quirino Mancini of WH Partners Italy.
Passing the law will take at least two years. By then the trend may be irreversible.
