Gaming companies that focus on the online market spent considerably more on advertising last year than the year before. Just when a ban seemed imminent, the number of advertisements quickly increased. This is evidenced by figures that de Volkskrant requested from research firm Nielsen. It concerns gross media expenditure, any discounts and price agreements are not included. The actual amount paid may therefore be lower.
The Dutch market has been open to online games of chance since October 2021. This was followed by an advertising offensive from October to December worth almost 36 million euros (gross). In the same period in 2022, gross media expenditure for online games of chance was even higher, almost 47 million euros.
It was previously forbidden to use role models, such as professional football players, in advertisements for high-risk games of chance. Now the cabinet wants to ban all ‘untargeted’ gambling advertisements.
The ban was supposed to take effect on January 1, but that did not happen. At the beginning of February, Minister Weerwind (Legal Protection) informed the House that the law will be published as soon as possible. Advertising for people who are specifically looking for gambling opportunities remains permitted under the new rules.
Despite the rise of online gambling, advertising for other games of chance, such as lotteries, continues to increase. In the whole of 2022, gross media expenditure for online gambling was 147 million euros, for other games of chance 213 million. At the top is the State Lottery, with 47.7 million. The rest of the top 3 also consists of ‘analogue’ games of chance. For both online and offline gambling, most advertising money goes to television, followed by the Internet.