Net Gaming Europe seek to capitalise on the Dutch Market

Net Gaming Europe, an iGaming affiliate marketing company, has announced that it has already begun preparing for the regulation of the Netherlands’ online gambling scene, allowing the online casino provider to legally provide real money games and promote their services to Dutch players.

Even though the Netherlands expects its regulated market launch in January next year, Sander Dekker, the Dutch Minister for Legal Protection has warned that the roll-out could face another delay because the preparations were disrupted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  He mentioned that the initial launch was delayed to July 2021, but could be pushed back even more, by a couple of months, after a Parliament Member proposed a postponement. 

Before the pandemic, the Act was on track to come into effect in January 2021 but its market operations will not be open for another 6 months (July 2021) at the earliest.  The Dutch gaming authority, De Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) will start accepting license applications in January 2021 and is anticipating that license applications will number over 100 applicants and they are requiring these applicants to pay a €45,000 application fee.  KSA officials have made it clear that early submission of the application does not mean a guaranteed acceptance, and in light of this, in case of a non-favourable response, the application fee is nonrefundable.  The KSA also underlined that they will methodically examine each applicant’s file according to strict rules as gaming providers need to fit a set list of criteria and be up to the KSA’s standards.

Net Gaming, with a goal of entering the Dutch market as soon as possible, said that it has taken the necessary steps to ensure that it is in the best possible position to launch in the market when it finally opens in about 12 months.  These measures include adjusting product offerings to not only tailor to the needs and preferences of its intended market but also to ensure its compliance with current Dutch regulations, even before the news laws come into effect.  

The company also said that the Netherlands ’ implementation of the Remote Gambling Act is a good step forward for the Dutch market and its consumers.  The company also seeks to capitalise on the positive development towards its locally regulated revenues despite the investment’s short-term negative impact on revenues.  The company is confident in its measures as these will allow them to have a strong position in the market, ultimately capitalising on their long-term investment and sustainable view of the Dutch regulated online gambling scene.  The company also said that it would be releasing further details about its plans for the Netherlands on August 13, upon publishing its next financial update.

In Net Gaming’s most recent financial update, the company has revealed a decline in first-quarter revenue, about 21.3% year on year as the company’s revenue fell €3.2m for the first three months of the first quarter dating until March 31, 2020, and has attributed this to the tighter regulations imposed across its core European markets.  Despite this, Robert Andersson, the new chief executive officer (CEO) of Net Gaming, said that the company has many untapped markets to refocus on, allowing the company to grow from the second financial quarter onwards.