Bingo provider Tombola withdraws from Dutch market
Tombola International announced its exit from the Dutch market only three years after acquiring a license under the country's new remote gambling regime.
The company cited stricter regulations and an increase in the country's gambling tax rate as a reason for its departure. “Resources can be better deployed in larger or new markets,” the company said in a statement.
Earlier this month, Holland Casino announced that it ceased its bingo offerings, leaving Unibet and Bet365 as the only bingo providers in the Dutch market.
In more fortunate news, TOTO Online recently acquired an expanded license which allows the operator to offer online bingo games in the Dutch market. TOTO is expected to launch its new bingo product sometime in October.
Netherlands Gambling Authority lowers Videoslots Ltd fine from €10m to €1m
In December 2022, the Netherlands Gambling Authority issued a record €9.87m fine to Malta-based operator Videoslots for offering online gambling in the country without a license. The size of the fine was partly based on an estimate of the operator's illegal revenues achieved in the Netherlands.
An appeal by Videoslots against the size of the fine has been partially upheld by the Dutch regulator. Although insufficiently comprehensive, the operator did take technical measures to limit participation by Netherlands-based players after October 2021, the Gambling Authority found.
As a result of this finding, the fine issued to Videoslots has been lowered to €975,000.
French competition authority approves FDJ’s Kindred acquisition
France’s competition authority, Autorité de la Concurrence, has approved FDJ’s bid to acquire Kindred Group on the condition that the operators will keep its monopoly and commercial brands separate.
FDJ reiterated its commitment to maintain separate brands and businesses after absorbing Kindred’s betting and casino products. It also pledged, in its acquisition of Kindred, to not display the well-known FDJ logo or branding across any of its commercial products.
Playtech sells Snaitech to Flutter Entertainment for €2.3bn
Playtech has agreed to sell its Italian sports betting and gaming company, Snaitech, to Flutter Entertainment for a total enterprise value of €2.3bn.
The deal represents a significant return for Playtech, which acquired Snaitech in 2018 for €846m.
The sale would further help strengthen Playtech’s focus on its core B2B business in growing markets in the Americas and Europe, while the deal also aligns with Flutter's strategy of investing in leadership positions in international markets.
Snaitech, through its Snai brand, is the third largest operator in the Italian market with a 9.9% share and 291,000 average monthly players.
Dutch Gambling Addiction Prevention Fund to award €3m in research grants
The Netherlands’ national Gambling Addiction Prevention Fund has launched a new funding round in cooperation with ZonMw to support new research as part of its broader “Gambling Addiction Prevention” research program.
Research grants are available for projects looking to improve addiction care treatment, care access, and early detection.
The deadline for submitting research proposals is November 19, 2024.
GGL Co-Chair Ronald Benter to headline 2024 Gaming in Germany Conference
The 2024 Gaming in Germany Conference, which is set to take place Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at the five-star Hotel Adlon Kempinski in the heart of historic Berlin, will once again be THE place to meet key decision makers and to get the latest information on Germany's online gambling market.
Confirmed speakers include Ronald Benter, Co-Chair, Gemeinsamen Glücksspielbehörde der Länder; Dr. Jörg Hoffman, Senior Partner, Melchers Law Firm; Mathias Dahms, President, Deutscher Sportwettenverband; Dr. Dirk Quermann, President, Deutscher Online Casinoverband; Dr. Andreas Ditsche, CEO, iGaming.com; and many more!
Register now: https://bit.ly/GiG2024!
Other events
The following event(s) may be of interest to the GiH community.
Over 5,000 operators are expected to attend this year's SBC Summit in Lisbon from September 24-26.
Dutch gambling tax rate to be increased to 34.2% from 2025, 37.8% from 2026
In its newly published annual budget, the Dutch government announced that it will increase the current gambling tax rate of 30.5% to 34.2% from January 1, 2025, and increase it even further to 37.8% from 2026.
The government initially proposed to increase the gambling tax rate to 37.8% from January 1, 2025, but has opted for a step-by-step approach to give gambling operators more time to adjust to the new rate.
The Dutch Bureau for Economic Policy (CPB) estimates that the tax increase will net the government €200m annually, despite an anticipated decline (§ 3.29) in both demand for, and supply of legal gambling products.
In a joint statement, trade associations VAN Kansspelen, NOGA, and VNLOK called the tax increase “irresponsible:”
“All available facts and figures indicate that the tax increase will lead to a further erosion of regulated offerings. As a result, tax revenues will decrease. At the same time, an increase in illegal and therefore riskier gambling can be expected. This comes at the expense of the stated objectives of Dutch gambling policy, which are consumer protection and the prevention of fraud, crime, and gambling addiction.”
Even more significantly, a report commissioned by the Ministry of Justice and Security shows that the proposed tax hike is likely to have a severely negative impact on the Dutch gambling industry. While lotteries will have to lower remittances to sports and good causes, other sectors are likely to face closures. Online operators may opt to leave the regulated market. Players can be expected to switch to illegal offerings.
Remaining operators in the legal segment will be forced to mitigate the impact of the tax increase by attempting to achieve higher revenues from their existing player base, which is likely to have a perverse effect on the totality of gambling-related harm. Moreover, players who switch to illegal offerings will be exposed to far riskier product offerings.
Other news
In response to parliamentary questioning, State Secretary for Youth, Prevention and Sport, Vincent Karremans said that the national government has no plans to increase its financial support in order to make sports less dependent on funding from gambling operators.
Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) has outlined its plans for a major restructuring process, which will see the company split into two distinct entities.
Disgraced ex-Malta Gambling Authority (MGA) CEO Heathcliff Farrugia has lost his appeal against convictions handed to him by Malta’s Magistrates Court in May.
Flutter Entertainment has added a new operator to its portfolio of brands, acquiring a stake in NSX Group in Brazil for a cash consideration of approximately $350m.
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