Online Gambling Industry in the Netherlands
While the Dutch have a long history of gambling, gaming, and sports betting, they’ve been slow to come around to the new trend sweeping the globe; online gambling. And it’s set to be a game-changer for the Dutch, their government, and gamblers worldwide.
The Dutch have technically been able to gamble online for years, due mostly to the vast amount of international gaming sites online. But the government hadn’t gotten behind the idea until 2019 when the Dutch Gaming Authority (KSA) began accepting and processing registrations for an online gaming license. The law is scheduled to become a reality on July 1, 2020, which means Dutch online casino industry is guaranteed to explode all over the internet and all over the Netherlands as of roughly January 1, 2021.
It’s an exciting time for the Dutch, who enjoy a long history of gambling (going back to the Fifteenth century). Because of their compulsion to control gambling in their country (and strictly limit competition), the Dutch government has hesitated to get into the biggest game on Earth. Still, things are about to change … and it’s about time. The whole world is gaming, a growing number of them online, and the results are staggering.
As we’ve seen, international gaming sites have long been available to Dutch players. That competition seems to have finally spurred their government to get into the vastly lucrative online gaming industry. But online gambling is only the newest iteration of one of the planet’s most enduring and profitable sectors. Over a quarter of the world’s population gamble, according to recent studies, equating to1.6 billion adults worldwide. The same studies indicate that roughly 4.2 billion adults place at least one bet per year, every year. A recent UK study suggests that an astounding 17% of adults participate in online gambling, generating revenue of an estimated £5.3B.
According to European Casino Association, the global online gambling market in the Netherlands for 2017 reached almost €600M. Canada and the UK were responsible for over half of that revenue, and experts agree that these figures are likely to double in the coming years. Recent UK studies indicate that almost 85% of American adults have placed at least one bet, and 80% of them had done so in the previous year.
Worldwide Overview
Recent reports are that the average Australian spends over $1,200 per adult per year on gambling, which is more than any other nation. Estimates are that 80% or more of Australian adults are gamblers, the world’s highest percentage per country. Singapore has a comparable obsession with gambling. By comparison, other nations, such as Canada, Italy, and Ireland, averaged about $600 per adult per year on gambling, gaming, or sports betting.
Other studies show that over half of US online gamblers are women, and almost half are between 21 and 34 years old. That means online gaming has a long and promising future with a new, young generation of clients. Online gambling has grown in the UK too. As far back as 2010, it was estimated that over 10% of UK adults had gambled online in any given month, and that was before the industry exploded worldwide. To provide you with an idea of the growth rate, UK gambling revenue in 2008 was estimated to be over £1B, and it had nearly doubled by 2012.
Then there’s mobile gambling, slightly different than remote gambling; remote referring to online gambling from your home computer. Mobile gambling, you may already have guessed, happens from the user’s smartphone. The latest reports (2020) are that 70% of online gambling transactions are generated from a smartphone, mobile gambling. Users are using their phones to do the necessary banking to fund their gambling as well.
To once again chart the growth rate of how this aspect of online gambling is growing, it was just 6% between 2011 and 2012. By 2018, it had grown to a dizzying 95%.
There can’t be any doubt that online gambling is the future of gambling, both remote and mobile formats are sure to take gambling into the new century. And at long last, the Dutch people will be able to freely and legally and lawfully benefit from the biggest game on Earth!
