The five-year licence period granted to Dutch online gambling firms back when the market re-regulated in 2021 is set to expire this October, with some operators already securing an extension.
Holland Casino, Bingoal, and Nederlandse Loterij-owned TOTO Online have all announced five-year licence extensions starting 1 October, 2026, following a review process by local regulator Kannspelautoritet (KSA).
Top 10 brands – who is set to expire?
In terms of market share, TOTO is currently the market leader in the Netherlands, Holland Casino comes in seventh, while Bingoal is 25th, according to data from Blask.
There are, however, other brands with licences due for a renewal, with some being top-value brands. We look at the top 10 market share holders from top to bottom.
Unibet
Unibet is the second most popular brand in the Netherlands, as per Blask. However, given that it entered the market one year after re-regulation, its licence is set to expire on 8 June, 2027, so parent company FDJ United still has some time to plan for an extension.
Despite its market-leading position, FDJ’s financial performance in Q1 showed a regional drop of 19.9% in revenue, although the company was quick to reassure investors that this was a “market improvement” from its 42.1% decline for FY2025.
BetCity
BetCity’s licence is due to expire on 1 October. The brand is third in market share after Unibet, and was acquired by Entain in 2023.
It is included in the international division of Entain’s financial reports. In Q1, the parent company reported a 1% YoY increase in international revenue, with an 8% uptick in online gaming.
However, the company keeps finding itself at odds with the regulator over marketing breaches. Earlier in March, BetCity admitted to violating marketing rules for young adults.
Most recently, the operator was contacted again by the KSA over the use of role models in its marketing during the World Cup.
There is no indication yet whether the frequency of the marketing violations will have any impact on BetCity’s potential licence renewal application.
bet365
Blask puts bet365 as fourth in terms of size in the Netherlands. The company was approved for market entry on 1 October, 2021, meaning that it is also due for a licence extension.
However, given that bet365 is currently not publicly listed, detailed information on its financial performance country-by-country is not available.
OneCasino
OneCasino is also a privately held company. Coming in fifth on Blask’s list, its licence is due to expire on 5 October, 2027.
711 and Jacks.nl
711 and Jacks.nl sit at number six and eight respectively, skipping Holland Casino as it was already mentioned earlier.
Both brands are owned by JVH Gaming and Entertainment, albeit operated through different legal entities.
And while 711 still has until 16 March 2027 to renew its licence, Jacks.nl is looking at a much closer deadline – 20 November 2026.
Kansino
Kansino was one of the first operators to launch in the then-newly-regulated Dutch online gambling market. Since then, it has managed to gain a respectable market share to become ninth in market share, as per Blask.
However, Malta-based parent Play North Limited will also need to soon get in touch with the KSA, as Kansino’s licence expires this October.
Fair Play
Fair Play is the online brand operated by the Janshen-Hahnraths Group, which also has a retail casino division. Its iGaming platform currently ranks 10th in Dutch market share, but its licence is also due to expire on 1 October this year.
All licences can be viewed on the KSA’s website.
Honorable mention – ComeOn
ComeOn is currently placed 17th in Blask’s rankings. While its licence still has until 6 September 2027 to expire, the company is of interest because of its agreement to manage evoke’s 888 brand using its Dutch licence.
The deal was brokered back in 2025 to push 888 back into the Netherlands after a period of absence. Since then, 888 Casino has become 19th in market share, while 888 Sport is currently 27th, according to Blask.
So far, the decision to re-introduce 888 to a Dutch audience seems to have paid off, despite a turbulent regulatory environment.
Is a licence renewal worth it?
Our long-term readers will remember well how much hype there was around the re-regulation of the Dutch gambling market in October 2021, under the Remote Gambling Act (KOA).
The Netherlands is the 18th largest economy in the world and has a large sports fandom, with the top-flight football league watched by over 2.1 million during the first half of the 2025/26 season alone.
All this set the stage for a thriving online betting market, and growth did soon follow. A market which initially began with just 10 licence holders now hosts more than 30.
However, political and public frustrations soon began to show, especially with what many saw as a “bombardment” of advertising, which much of the Dutch public were not used to seeing.
In 2022 the government took action. A ban on the use of “role models” was approved in May 2022, preventing operators from using well-known faces like footballers, celebrities and social media personalities in their advertising.
On 1 July 2023 the ban on “untargeted advertising” came into effect. This banned adverts across TV, radio, social media and in print – effectively places where material could be viewed by all members of the general public, regardless of age.
The final stage of this advertising clampdown saw sports sponsorship by betting firms banned on 1 July 2025.
In 2026, the government has taken things a step further and is now planning a full, outright ban on all kinds of betting and gambling advertising, much to the chagrin of the regulated industry, which believes it has been put at a huge disadvantage to the unregulated one.
And to top all of this off, there is the hugely unpopular tax regime. The tax rate was set at 34.2% in 2025, and as of 1 January 2026 it went up again to 37.8%. Some operators, like LiveScore Group, saw this framework as unworkable, and called it quits – LiveScore did so in 2024.
For many iGaming operators, the combination of tough advertising restrictions and high taxation has turned what could have been a promising market into an extremely difficult one where the licensed industry struggles to compete with the offshore one.
According to VNLOK, the Dutch online gambling trade body, the black market accounted for around 25% of Dutch gambling activity in 2025, while the KSA believes the legal market’s share of GGR fell to about 49% early last year.
With all this in mind, a big question remains – with their licences up for renewal, will some operators decide not to do so?….
Article contributions from Ted Orme-Claye