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Whether and how the Netherlands imposes a ban on broadcast gambling ads plus restrictions on internet advertising will probably be up to an outgoing minister or his successor.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed a motion calling for an end to broadcast gambling advertising, brushing aside minister for legal protection Sander Dekker’s comments that it was too soon to consider restrictions.
Dekker will probably leave office in coming days, as the Dutch coalition government changes, but he is a member of the VVD party headed by Mark Rutte, who will continue as Prime Minister.
If implemented as envisioned, the ban would cover “untargeted” advertising for “high-risk” gambling — that is, most kinds other than lottery draws — on radio and television, due to its availability to minors and vulnerable people.
It would restrict internet advertising to after 9pm in line with a current watershed ban on broadcast advertising and those ads would need to be targeted to adult audiences.
Dekker told Algemeen Dagblad he wants to “think carefully” about the proposed ban, saying he had questions such as whether it would apply to shirt sponsorships.
A total ban has precedent, as the Netherlands banned cigarette advertising in 2002, but, he said, “the question is whether it is desirable”.
Dekker said he shared House members’ concerns as “the number of gambling advertisements has been enormous in recent times. I have also indicated this to gambling companies: be moderate, otherwise politics will intervene.”
Earlier, he had pointed out that it is no surprise the opening of the online gambling market would lead to a rush of advertising.
“Now is the time to gain market share,” he told a parliamentary committee before Thursday night’s vote on the motion. “But that will decrease in the long run.”
If a ban is implemented soon, big brand names such as Kindred Group’s Unibet, Betsson and Entain’s bwin will have to make their re-entry to the Dutch market quietly.
Only 11 companies have currently been licensed, including Holland Casino and Nederlandse Loterij, with the others enduring cooling-off periods as they were in the market before legalisation.
The big foreign brands would be known to existing online gamblers, as all were in the market until they were forced to pull out on October 1, but they still may not have the mass-market reach of big local brands such as TOTO.
A voluntary code agreed by the gambling industry last Tuesday (December 14) seemed to have little effect on debate Thursday night (December 16). It limits ads to three 30-second commercials per break and forbids bonuses to under-25s.
Netherlands Online Gambling Association director Peter-Paul de Goeij said he was surprised at the size of the majority in support of the motion, advanced by the Christian Union and Socialist parties.
“It’s a resounding message parliament sends, and I think we as an industry have to say we can do better than we have the last two and a half months,” he said.
