Netherlands Online Gambling Association bemoans slip in channelisation rate
NOGA describes downturn to 90% in December 2023 from July high as “a shame” as body points to regulatory restrictions as core driver
The post Netherlands Online Gambling Association bemoans slip in channelisation rate first appeared on EGR Intel.
The Netherlands Online Gambling Association (NOGA) has described the falling channelisation in the country as a “shame” following a slight dip between the July 2023 and the end of last year.
As detailed in the Netherlands Gambling Authority’s (KSA) annual report, channelisation in the market stood at 90% by the end of 2023, having fallen from 93% in July 2023.
Despite this figure being streets ahead of the 80% target channelisation rate that was set when the online market went live in October 2021, the Dutch trade body has expressed its frustration with the decline.
Additionally, the KSA rules its channelisation rate of 90% as those players who only gamble with legal operators.
The regulator noted the total percentage of customers using legal operators, alongside the black market, reached 98%.
However, Peter-Paul de Goeij, NOGA director, said the downturn in channelisation represents a “dangerous trend” in the Netherlands given the lack of consumer protection on the black market.
He said: “It is obvious that the lagging growth of the legal market in the Netherlands is because Dutch online gamblers have started gambling more with illegal providers.”
The Dutchman noted that the declining channelisation rate could also have been impacted by the ban on untargeted advertising in the country, which came into effect last July.
De Geoij added: “Hard figures and data are lacking, especially about the illegal market; these are mainly assumptions made by the KSA.
“It is just as possible that the declining channelisation figures and lower growth among legal companies with a gambling licence are precisely caused by the advertising ban.
“With too many locks on the door, the online gambling Dutchman goes one door further, to one of the tens of thousands of illegal gambling sites. There is often no protection at all,” he concluded.
Also detailed in the KSA’s report was total Dutch gross gambling revenue (GGR), with 2023 returning a 29% year-on-year jump in the metric to €1.39bn (£1.19bn).
However, GGR only rose by 1% in the second half of the year, a fact NOGA also took umbrage with, claiming the growth in the market put the Netherlands well beyond fellow European nations.
The post Netherlands Online Gambling Association bemoans slip in channelisation rate first appeared on EGR Intel.
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