The Netherlands considering total ban on gambling advertisements

Dutch gamblers could soon also face deposit restrictions and removal of bonuses under a new five-year plan.

Last week, the Dutch government launched a five-year strategy to reduce gambling-related harm, which included an almost total ban on gambling adverts.

Gambling advertising in the Netherlands has already been heavily restricted since 2023, when a ban on untargeted advertising and using role models to advertise gambling products came into force. 

These restrictions were updated to include influencers earlier this year. 

Now State Secretary for Justice and Security Claudia van Bruggen wants to ban gambling adverts in their entirety, as well as banning bonuses and capping the amount players can deposit. 

69% of Dutch people gambled

Citing research that said that 69% of Dutch people over the age of 16 engaged in at least one form of gambling, she said that she found it “particularly concerning that more and more people, and especially young people, have started gambling online and are getting into trouble as a result.”

New affordability checks are likely to be introduced too. We'll assess whether the player has the "sufficient financial capacity" before they are allowed to increase their deposit limits. 

While it looks like gambling is going to be much more strictly enforced in the Netherlands, the earlier plan to raise the minimum age for online gambling from 18 to 21 will no longer happen. Van Bruggen felt that the plan would backfire and force 18-year-olds into illegal gambling instead. 

Just last month, it was revealed that 38 million Dutch Meta users were shown illegal gambling adverts. Elsewhere, with the World Cup taking place right now, other countries have concerns about the abundance of gambling advertising. Denmark, for example, are weighing up whistle-to-whistle gambling advert bans during sports broadcasts