The cabinet will further tighten the rules for gambling advertisements. As of January 1, 2025, gambling companies are no longer allowed to sponsor events and sports clubs. That is what Minister Franc Weerwind (Legal Protection, D66) has announced on friday†
With this, the minister is responding to a wish from the House of Representatives, including Michel van Nisper (SP) and Mirjam Bikker (CU). The ban on sponsorship will be banned in phases, so that sports clubs have the opportunity to find alternative sponsors, for example for shirts.
The tightening will have a major impact, especially in the football world. For example, the FC Volendam players wear the logo of main sponsor Bet City on their shirts and the professional clubs AZ (Kansino), Vitesse (Bet City) and Ajax (Unibet) also have gambling companies as main sponsors.
Also read: Cabinet further limits gambling advertising
Since April 2021, the Remote Gambling Act (Koa) has been in force in the Netherlands and since October of that year it has been legal to gamble online and to advertise gambling. The aim of the law was to combat illegality, addiction, fraud and money laundering. With the imports, the number of gambling advertisements has exploded. In October and November 2021, more than 336,000 gambling ads were seen on television and the internet – a doubling from the previous year.
The House of Representatives has been concerned for some time about the increase in the number of gambling advertisements and sees a need to protect vulnerable groups, such as young people and addicts. Out research Research agency Intraval shows that between 162,000 and 268,000 Dutch people are at high risk of developing a gambling addiction.
Also read: Never has betting on football matches been more ubiquitous than it is today. How is that possible?