KSA reports falling GGR, following deposit limit introduction
For the full year, KSA reported in its spring report that gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2024 was €1.47 billion ($1.58 billion/£1.2 billion), up 6% year-on-year.
However, in the second half of 2024, GGR was 10% lower than in the first half of the year at €697 million. KSA’s GGR numbers cover the 12-month period ending 31 December 2024.
Impacting the results are KSA protection measures that came into force last October.
“This decrease is probably due to both the peak during the European Football Championship in June 2024 and the new rules that should better protect players in the online gambling market,” KSA stated.
New rules included deposit thresholds connected to a player’s net deposit during a calendar month. If a gambler’s net deposits reach €700 (£583/$777) in a month, operators are obligated to block any further deposits. A reduced deposit limit of €300 was introduced for gamblers between 18 and 25.
Gamblers may appeal and increase their limits by providing appropriate proof of higher incomes that are sustainable.
The Dutch watchdog has also noted that in the last six months the average number of accounts was up from 1.1 million to 1.19 million. It has estimated that 788,000 players were active with legal providers in the last six months, representing 5.4% of the Netherlands’ adult population.
Online channelisation
The KSA had previously judged that player channelisation for online offerings stood at a stable 91%, as the vast majority of players in the market used legal operators.
However, the regulator has introduced a new measuring methodology that is based on the Dutch lottery, which looks at market value. It has discovered that in terms of GGR, channelisation is far lower than expected.
It had placed GGR channelisation at 87% in 2024, based on figures provided by advisory firm H2 Gambling Capital.
Under the new method, channelisation GGR value was estimated to be at 58% in the first half of 2024. This has dropped to an average of 50% in the second half of the year following the introduction of the deposit limits.
The regulator believes that problem gambling has reduced with legal providers but that, consequently, higher-value players have moved to illegal offerings. It found that half of the money lost in the Dutch market now goes to unlicensed operators.
“The introduction of the policy rules has led to a reduction in excessive gambling at legal providers,” the KSA said in a report published in February.
It noted that the number of players who had losses greater than €1,000 had fallen, while the share of accounts with losses lower than €1,000 had increased.
“There is a great chance that heavy players have switched to illegal providers, while recreational players almost all continue to play at legal providers,” KSA stated.
Online casino games maintain the largest GGR
Online gambling and the “casino games against the house” category accounted for 75% of total GGR in the second half of 2024, according to KSA’s latest report.
Sports betting’s GGR tends to fluctuate over the months, experiencing peaks during events such as the European Championship. KSA noted that the sports betting category decreased the least following the introduction of deposit limits.
“Before the new player protection rules, the average loss was highest for accounts that played both sports betting and casino games,” KSA’s report said. It added that “as of October, there is no longer a difference between accounts that only play casino games and accounts that also play sports betting”.
KSA also found that the loss from accounts that only play sports betting was lower than those that gambled on casino games.