Netherlands Gaming Market Report 2021

Gaming Market Report The Netherlands May 2021

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MARKET OVERVIEW LICENSING IN THE NETHERLANDS TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS SUPPORTING RESPONSIBLE GAMING TECHNICAL EXPERTISE A GOOD START MARKET ENTRANCE

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Market Overview From a market shaped by legacy legislation and practices, some dating back to pre-internet times, the Netherlands is about to enjoy new opportunities provided by its gambling legislation in the making.

The landscape will significantly change with the Remote Gambling Act ready to go live in April 2021.

Operators seeking to enter the online Dutch gambling market will now have the legal opportunity to do so.

A multi-operator future is imagined with many regulated gaming operators able to apply, be licensed and then operate in the Dutch market.

Operators are required to tackle The Netherlands as a completely new

territory, since cooling-off periods for historic Netherlands targeting will apply and regulations that mandate that everyone starts from scratch with their player acquisition will be in place.

17+ MILLION POPULATION 81% ARE AGED 18+ 95% INTERNET PENETRATION 93% OWN A MOBILE 83% OWN A COMPUTER/LAPTOP 11+ MILLION SOCIAL MEDIA USERS 4H 37MIN DAILY INTERNET USAGE

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Market Overview Pre 2020 pandemic data from both regulated and unregulated sources shows a Netherlands market already growing.

The Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) has published a report projecting the regulated and unregulated online gambling market to reach 1.1 billion EUR in 2024.

Their objective is to grow licensed operators to 80%, for the next three years.

Holland Casino’s 2018 report recognizes four main

categories: Bingo, Poker, Casino, and Sports Betting, with the last growing fastest.

A competitive regulated environment for players will grow firmly due to: • high Internet penetration; • established love of Sports Betting; • early Interest from big industry names; • safer entertainment; • higher contribution to the state economy.

HOLLAND CASINO (PRE-COVID) DATA

728.9M

1.2M

+11% GGR increase from 2019

+9.8% more guests from 2019

117 EURO +2.5% more per visit from 2019

Source: https://corporate.hollandcasino.nl

Who are the Regulators?

Established on 1 April 2012, its main responsibilities are issuing licenses, supervising the gambling market and enforcing rules. It acts as a regulator for the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The KSA defines its main three tasks as protecting and informing consumers, preventing illegal and criminal practices, preventing gambling addiction.

The entity that bears the political responsibility for the gambling policy in the Netherlands. The Remote Gambling Act, respectively the new licensing system, falls into the Ministry’s care and it has the purposes to protect players against gambling addictions and similar risks, as well as preventing money laundering associated with illegal gambling.

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CURRENT GAMBLING LICENSEES

Current State of Affairs The current legislation includes the Betting and Gambling Act 1964, and the Betting and Gambling Tax Act of 1961 also applies.

Secondary legislation also targets advertising, addiction prevention and remote gambling.

Offline (land-based) gambling is regulated, and the market includes state-monopolies in casino with 14 venues, a state lottery, charity lotteries, lotto, sports betting and horse racing. Private operators exist for slot machines in arcades, bars

and restaurants.

Online (remote) gambling will become legal for licensed operators under The Remote Gambling Act, approved on 19 February 2019 by the Senate and in force since 1 April 2021.

The Dutch gambling regulator the Kansspelautoriteit has so far received 28 applications from operators seeking to offer online gambling products in the country’s regulated market, which is scheduled to open from 1 October 2021.

Sector

Licencee Normal lotteries: Dutch State Lottery (NL) National Postcode Loterij, VriendenLoterij, BankGiro Loterij

Lotteries

Charity lotteries: Samenwerkende Non-Profit Loterijen Lottovate Fair Share Impact Lottery

Sports Betting

De Lotto (Toto) Sportech Racing B.V. (Runnerz)

Casinos

Holland Casino (casino slot machines)

Arcades

Jacks Casino, Fair Play, Gran Casino, Hommerson Arcades.

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Legal Perspectives The Remote Gambling Act (RGA) took effect on the 1st of April 2021. On the 1st of October 2021, the online gambling market is planned to open.

Information on the implementation and further interpretation of the RGA will be provided by secondary legislation The Central Exclusion Register (CRUKS), will also enter into force on 1st of October 2021. This register is to ensure that once a player chooses to self-exclude, they will be able to do that across

KEY REQUIREMENTS for licensees in the Netherlands

all licensed operators.

B2C operators will also be fully responsible for ensuring that B2B software suppliers are compliant with the law.

Operators that have previously targeted the Dutch gambling market won’t be immediately eligible to apply for a license; instead, they will be subjected to a “cooling-off” period and required to apply several restrictions to their customer databases.

Be connected with CRUKS, the centralised player registered based on social security numbers Meet strict regulations on marketing and promotions Perform mandatory age checks and other KYC procedures Participate in the CDB (control data base) of KSA, a tool to monitor all the activity of casinos 7

The 6 Steps to CRUKS 01

Casino and arcades need to choose and access an identification system or outsource this to a third party.

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Registration for an affiliation with the Gaming Authority – existing licensees, new licensees or software suppliers for potential licence holders can apply to this step.

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Requesting a Public Key Infrastructure (PKIoverheid) certificate – a computer file that acts like a digital passport. For CRUKS, a PKIoverheid services server certificate (Public G3 or Public G1 root) is required.

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Install and activate the PKI certificate on the server that you want to connect to Cruks, then email your IP address & the public key of the PKI certificate once in PEM format to the Gaming Authority.

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Independently test the connection according to the specifications sent by the Gaming Authority. Once self-testing is ready, email the Gaming Authority that you are ready for a connection test.

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Test the connection with the Gaming Authority and, if everything goes well, receive a release advice.

The most important requirement is to set up a connection with CRUKS by the 1st of July 2021, through a total of 6 steps, so that players can be checked in the system.

Once completed, gambling providers must check every player in CRUKS starting from 1 October 2021 (planned).

Players registered as self-excluded in CRUKS must be rejected by the website. Though not a current step for connecting to CRUKS, the Gaming Authority recommends combining the self-exclusion checks with age checks, which are planned to become mandatory.

All information presented here is provided by https://kansspelautoriteit.nl and might be subject to change.

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Responsible Gaming The Dutch Gambling Act places the responsibility on the B2C gambling providers for the selection of a reliable B2B software provider.

EveryMatrix becomes a natural choice as a platform provider. Our extensive experience, provision of a full turn-key solution and proven track record of handling player protection and responsible gambling requirements for tier-1 casino and sports operators in the most demanding jurisdictions make us a perfect solution for operators.

From the PAM (Player Account Management) to the Casino or Sportsbook platforms, all products are based on a micro-service architecture that allows easy adaption to new jurisdictions and legislations.

Whether it’s a Responsible Gaming solution we already provide or one we can build, we cater to both operators’ and players’ needs, ensuring a hassle-free adoption of technical compliance requirements.

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Across Gaming Vendors

POWERED BY

Via the CasinoEngine Casino Integration and Aggregation Platform, EveryMatrix has the capacity to implement several player protection features across the vendors on a specific website, without any need of customisation from the vendor side: • Reality checks​

• Time limit calculations​ • Wagering limits across all vendors​ • Authenticity checks​ • Toolbar with specific buttons (panic, transfer money, switch between fun and real modes) • Special daily reporting as requested The operator has extensive control over the responsible gaming and player protection features of the content it delivers, which is especially important in the context of the Dutch regulations that place all responsibilities on the B2C provider.

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Across Players

POWERED BY

Our payments platform MoneyMatrix includes a customer verification micro-service that significantly speeds up customer checks and fraud analysis, optimizes KYC accuracy, and reduces the associated costs​.

NEW REGISTERED PLAYER

It provides coverage of Dutch regulatory requirements, among multiple jurisdictions available: age, documents, proof of address, biometric, PEP, sanction, AML with combined screenings.

PLAYER DATA SENT TO CRUKS

Verifications can be executed by third parties, or manually by the platform users, individually or in batches.

PLAYER REGISTERED IN CRUKS?

Identity management automation is possible via the Rules Manager, with a verification automatically triggered as soon as the set conditions are met.

In the proposed framework of CRUKS, the microservice can perform the role of an identification system, with the advantage of it being already embedded in the platform.

The verification is triggered when a new customer joins the gaming platform.

NO

YES

PLAYER IS APPROVED

PLAYER IS REJECTED

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Technical Expertise As a promoter of safe and responsible gambling, we already have extensive expertise in integrating several national self-exclusion systems to our GamMatrix PAM.

• Player sign-ups and log-ins trigger interrogations of the self-exclusion register

Our teams are knowledgeable in finding the right tech solutions to accommodate country-specific legal requirements, making sure all parties involved have a positive experience.

• Self-exclusion is often set to be time-bound

Most systems share core similarities:

• GamMatrix enforces active self-exclusions by denying the player’s access to the account

• Players are checked based on various identification elements, including national ID numbers

GAMMATRIX IS INTEGRATED with several national self-exclusion systems

GAMSTOP (UK) ROFUS (Denmark) NARIS (Lithuania) OASIS (Schleswig-Holstein) SPELPAUS (Sweden) GamMatrix also accommodates particularities for each integrated national register.

For example, for the Swedish SPELPAUS service, the flow of communication with GamMatrix goes both ways: a selfexclusion set by the player on the operator's website is also communicated back to SPELPAUS. 12

A Good Start Going from a state-owned gambling market to a free one, The Netherlands puts forward one of the most interesting Remote Gambling Acts that provides a virtually clean slate for operators.

of entertainment.

Positive demographics trends.

A diverse and renewed audience.

Legislation that seeks to put all operators at the same level.

In this respect, The Netherlands gaming market offers a handful of excellent advantages:

The correct balance between player protections and business requirements.

Players have an existing appetite for gambling.

Ability to forge partnerships that will provide mutual growth.

Sufficient income to allow the safely adoption of such a form

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Turnkey Solution

Largest German sportsbook.

Casino with front-end.

Live 2017.

for a swift Market Entry At EveryMatrix, we are already supporting large businesses with time-tested and tailored solutions for successful market entry.

State monopoly in Norway.

Casino. Live 2018.

Paddy Power Betfair initially Spain, then more countries.

Casino. Live 2020.

• Cross-product platform; • Modular architecture allowing for flexibility and scalable growth; • A to Z solutions for bold operators seeking to expand into the Dutch market;

Largest operator in Greece.

Casino with front-end.

Live 2020.

Genesis Global with 12 brands in UK, Sweden, Malta, and more. Platform with Casino and Payments. Live 2016.

• Adapting to market-specific regulations; • Attracting and retaining players; • Modern front-end technology; • Sophisticated back-office capabilities; • Market-leading gaming content.

A leading German brand.

Platform with Casino and Payments. Live 2016.

Land based and online operator in Romania.

Platform with Casino, Sports, Payments. Live 2018.

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Product Benefits Highly scalable across multiple jurisdictions and products.

Comprehensive overview of all players activities.

Enhanced monitoring of wallets, transactions and regulatory data.

Easy access to new jurisdictions.

Technical Benefits Modular platform architecture allowing partial or full integrations.

Possible to easily integrate local product providers.

Full operator control of the website development via APIs. Build own custom back-office logic by means of APIs available.

Extend reporting and other datadriven logic using our Data Hub Streaming Service.

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EveryMatrix delivers a modular and API driven product suite for casino, sports betting, payments and affiliate/agent management.

The company’s B2B iGaming solutions are designed to help clients unleash bold ideas and deliver outstanding player experiences in regulated markets.

To offer the services required by operators, the EveryMatrix products work together as an entire platform or independently. They can be easily integrated with existing platforms to accommodate different types of clients from bookmakers to lotteries and from existing large operations to newcomers.

Headquarter Office Level 3, St. Julian’s Business Centre 3 Triq Elija Zammit, STJ 3153, St Julian’s, Malta

For more information: everymatrix.com info@everymatrix.com

EveryMatrix Software Limited is licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the Gambling Commission under account number 39383 and the Malta Gaming Authority, licence number MGA/B2B/201/2011.