The Dutch licensed gambling market saw a capture of approximately 59% of the total gross gaming yield (BSR) in 2025, an increase from 54% in 2024. This data comes from the Kansspelautoriteit’s (Ksa) annual report for 2025 and its semi-annual report for the first half of 2026, which were released on Thursday.
In the first half of 2026, the Netherlands’ regulated online gambling market rebounded, with the gross gaming yield rising by about 11% compared to the previous six months. The Ksa's latest monitoring report, covering January to June 2026, estimated that licensed operators amassed approximately €670 million ($750 million) in BSR, averaging €110 million per month.
Casino games played against the house accounted for about 73% of this total, translating to approximately €492 million, while sports betting contributed roughly 24% or €163 million, representing a growth from around 20% in the latter half of 2025. The Ksa suggested that this growth in sports betting and overall revenue could be linked to the men's FIFA World Cup. Month-to-month fluctuations in sports wagering outpaced those of casino activities, with a notable increase in new accounts in June.
During this half-year period, 563,000 new accounts were registered, up from 529,000 in the preceding six months.
Estimating the unlicensed gambling market has proven challenging for the Ksa, which combined GfK panel data on participation with a Google Ads search-volume method to ascertain revenue from illegal activities. For the first half of 2026, the regulator estimated that around 20,000 individuals exclusively wagered with unlicensed operators each month, while another 10,000 engaged with both licensed and unlicensed platforms.
Depending on the methodology applied, the share of players opting for legal providers was estimated to be between 94% and 97%. Despite the small number of individuals utilizing illegal sites, their estimated revenue share indicates that they may incur significantly higher losses on average than users of licensed providers. The Ksa underscored that these illegal market estimates are subject to uncertainty and that efforts to refine measurement methods are ongoing.
While the number of licensed operators reported an average of 1.48 million active accounts monthly, marking an increase from 1.38 million in the latter half of 2025, independent panel data from GfK revealed that the overall number of people gambling with licensed providers remained stagnant. The Ksa estimated that during the first half of 2026, around 820,000 individuals gambled with licensed providers at some point, with an average of 490,000 doing so each month.
The discrepancy between the rising account numbers and stable player counts suggests that individuals may be utilizing multiple accounts more frequently, possibly in response to regulatory changes, including net deposit limits instituted in October 2024.
Regarding player losses, the average monthly loss per account remained relatively stable. Licensed operators indicated an average loss of €75 per month in the first half of 2026, with accounts held by 18–23-year-olds averaging €34. A separate Ksa estimate that accounted for individuals using multiple accounts and gambling intermittently put average losses at €137 per person per month, an increase from €121 in the latter half of 2025.
Younger adults, particularly those aged 18-23, were a focal point, representing about 22% of all legal gambling accounts even though they comprise roughly 9.2% of the adult population. In a release earlier this year, the Ksa found that 33% of 15,761 newly funded gambling accounts opened between May 1–7, 2026, were by individuals aged 18-24, and notably, 41% of these accounts were created by newly turned 18-year-olds.
There was a marked increase in account registrations on or shortly following individuals’ 18th birthdays: in 2024-25, 11% of accounts opened by 18-year-olds were registered on their actual birthday, while 38% were registered within the month following.
Demand for support services is also on the rise; in 2025, 3,108 individuals sought specialized treatment for gambling-related issues, reflecting a 14% increase compared to 2024. The national self-exclusion register, known as Cruks, recorded an average addition of about 2,076 individuals a month, totaling approximately 120,200 registrations by July 31, 2026. The report also noted a significant spike in involuntary registrations following notifications from operators.
Advertising by licensed operators saw a decline, dropping by about 33% from an average of 75,000 placements a month in the latter half of 2025 to around 50,000 in the first half of 2026. The Dutch government has continued its efforts to reduce gambling advertisements, having proposed a near-total ban on online gambling ads in June. This coalition has even drawn comparisons between gambling and sex work.
Additionally, VNLOK filed a lawsuit against Meta, alleging that the company permitted illegal gambling ads to reach consumers in the Netherlands, claiming that over 90% of gambling advertisements on Facebook originate from unlicensed operators.
