PSV seeks fan feedback over online gambling partnerships
PSV Eindhoven is seeking feedback from fans about the prospect of the Dutch Eredivisie football club striking a commercial partnership with an online gambling company.
The club sent letters to its season ticket-holders last week, asking them to offer their opinions about gambling promotions at football matches.
According to local news website Eindhovens Dagblad, the club is considering offers to strike a commercial partnership with an online gaming company next season, with such a deal potentially worth between €1m (£900,000/$1.1m) and €1.5m per year.
The club did not respond to a request by iGamingBusiness.com to clarify the scope and timeframe for the consultation. It also remains unclear whether request for feedback from fans is an informal consultation, or whether specific questions will be asked to set the parameters for future commercial partnerships in the sector.
Harrie Timmermans, the chairman of the PSV Supporters’ Association, offered a lukewarm response to the prospect of PSV teaming up with an online operator, however.
“We have had internal discussions about this,” he said. “It’s a bit of a grey area. This will soon be legal and will bring money to the club, but it is too easy to regard everything that brings in money as desirable.”
Timmermans raised specific concerns that supporters’ data could be sold on to gambling companies leading to fans being “buried under mailings to participate” in gaming.
A number of the country’s leading clubs, including Ajax and Feyenoord, are also reported to be considering options in the online gambling industry.
The Netherlands’ gambling regulator, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), is working towards the igaming market opening up in the country from 1 January 2021.
Following ratification by the Senate in February, the Remote Gaming Act is set to come into force from 1 July, 2020, after which the KSA will begin processing licence applications.
Dutch Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker published secondary regulations for the country's igaming market last month, with industry stakeholders able to submit comments on the proposed rules until 18 September.
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