Netherlands Grants Eight Follow-Up Online Gambling Licences Through 2031
The KSA has completed its first-ever review of five-year-old Dutch online gambling licences, granting follow-up permits to TOTO, Holland Casino, Kansino, FairPlay Casino, Bingoal, bet365, GG Poker and BetCity — with compliance history forming part of the assessment.
The Dutch Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit, KSA) announced on 17 September 2026 that it had granted eight follow-up online gambling licences to existing operators, allowing them to continue operating in the regulated Dutch market from 1 October 2026 through 30 September 2031. The decision concludes the first round of follow-up licences since the Netherlands opened its regulated online gambling market in October 2021.
The eight recipients are TOTO Online B.V. (TOTO, Winnitt), Holland Casino N.V. (Holland Casino Online), Play North Limited (Kansino), FPO Nederland B.V. (FairPlay Casino), Bingoal Nederland B.V. (Bingoal), Hillside (New Media Malta) Plc (bet365), NSUS Malta Limited (GG Poker) and Betent B.V. (BetCity). According to the regulator, all eight applicants met the requirements for a licence.
Netherlands Issues First Eight Follow-Up Licences
The Netherlands' regulated online gambling market opened on 1 October 2021, when the KSA granted licences to ten operators under the Remote Gambling Act (Wet kansspelen op afstand, or Koa). Those licences were issued for a fixed five-year term, meaning they were due to expire at the end of September 2026.
Two of the original ten licence holders, LiveScore Bet and tombola, later left the Dutch market; their licences were withdrawn at their own request effective 23 December 2024. That left eight of the original operators still active — the same eight now confirmed for a follow-up licence.
The new licences take effect on 1 October 2026 and run through 30 September 2031, providing the eight operators with a further five-year licence term, subject to the conditions of their respective licences.
Which Operators Received Follow-Up Licences?
The KSA's announcement listed the following legal entities and the consumer brands they operate under in the Netherlands:
- TOTO Online B.V. — TOTO, Winnitt
- Holland Casino N.V. — Holland Casino Online
- Play North Limited — Kansino
- FPO Nederland B.V. — FairPlay Casino
- Bingoal Nederland B.V. — Bingoal
- Hillside (New Media Malta) Plc — bet365
- NSUS Malta Limited — GG Poker
- Betent B.V. — BetCity
The KSA's announcement did not set out which product verticals — casino games, sports betting, poker or racing betting — each individual licence formally covers. That detail would need to be confirmed against each operator's published licence document rather than assumed from brand names alone.
KSA Examined Five Years of Compliance History
The KSA said it assessed several subjects when reviewing the applications. As part of the follow-up assessment, the authority specifically considered violations that had been definitively established during the preceding five years. Applicants were required to explain what measures they had taken to remedy those violations and prevent them from recurring.
Based on that review, the KSA said several applicants received "additional points of attention." The regulator did not identify which operators received them, or what they concerned. The KSA also did not disclose which historical enforcement actions, if any, were linked to the additional points of attention for any specific applicant.
Several of the eight operators have documented enforcement histories with the KSA predating this announcement. TOTO Online, Betent (BetCity), Bingoal Nederland and Hillside (bet365) were among operators fined in connection with marketing communications sent to young adults aged 18–24 during the early period of the regulated market. Bingoal was also fined over a failure to check the Netherlands' national self-exclusion register, CRUKS. Betent and Play North (Kansino) received formal instructions ("aanwijzingen") concerning anti-money-laundering requirements, while Holland Casino was involved in a separate Wwft-related enforcement matter dating from before the regulated online market opened.
None of this enforcement history has been linked by the KSA to the outcome of any specific follow-up application. The regulator's decision that all eight applicants meet the licensing requirements does not indicate that any operator has a record free of past violations, nor does it identify which, if any, of the matters above factored into an additional point of attention.
The decision also clarifies how the KSA will approach follow-up applications as existing licences reach the end of their fixed terms. The authority can examine an operator's established compliance history and require evidence that previous problems have been addressed. However, the September decision does not reveal how individual compliance issues affected any of the eight assessments.
These Are New Licences, Not Automatic Extensions
The KSA's own guidance for existing licence holders states that an expiring Koa licence cannot simply be extended. An operator whose licence is due to expire must submit an entirely new application and undergo full reassessment; there is no administrative renewal or rollover of an existing permit. The regulator refers to the resulting permit as a "vervolgvergunning" — a follow-up licence.
Some industry coverage of the announcement has described the outcome using the language of "renewal." That framing captures the practical effect for players and operators — continuity of market access — but understates the legal position: each of the eight operators went through a fresh application and a full assessment against current licensing standards, rather than having an existing permit administratively prolonged.
How the 2026 Rules Changed the Licensing Process
A revised set of licensing rules, the Beleidsregels vergunningverlening kansspelen op afstand 2026 (BRVKOA 2026), took effect on 1 January 2026, replacing the previous 2023 version. The KSA introduced a dedicated application procedure for existing licence holders seeking a follow-up licence, separate from the standard process for new market entrants; this track opened for applications in the Koa portal from 5 January 2026.
Under the revised rules, applicants must submit an exit plan describing how they would wind down their operations and pay out player balances if a licence ends, along with a formal risk analysis under the Netherlands' anti-money-laundering law (Wwft). Bank guarantees and third-party escrow accounts are no longer accepted as player-fund safeguarding arrangements for new applications, and an applicant's failure to comply with a final or provisionally enforceable court judgment can be treated as grounds to question its reliability and refuse a licence. For follow-up applications, the rules also require the KSA to consider definitively established violations from the preceding five years and the applicant's measures to remedy and prevent them.
What the First Round of Follow-Up Licences Says About the Dutch Market
The eight follow-up licences cover only the operators that were part of the market's original 2021 launch cohort. As of the KSA's most recent market monitoring report, the Netherlands had roughly 30 online gambling licences in total, of which 27 were being actively used to offer a live product as of 31 July 2025. Operators licensed after October 2021 will reach their own five-year points, and their own follow-up decisions, in later years.
KSA market data shows gross gaming revenue of €602 million in the second half of 2025, broadly flat against €600 million in the first half and roughly 18% lower than the equivalent period in 2024. Average monthly active player accounts rose to 1.38 million in the second half of 2025, up from 1.29 million in the first half. The KSA has also estimated that the legal market's share of total gross gaming revenue — a measure the regulator uses as a channelisation indicator — stood at approximately 53% in the second half of 2025, a figure the authority itself frames as an estimate rather than a precise measurement.
Dutch Online Gambling Policy Is Also Tightening
Separately from the licensing cycle, the Dutch cabinet announced on 12 June 2026 that it intends to introduce further restrictions on online gambling, including a proposed ban on online gambling advertising, a proposed ban on bonuses such as free bets offered to new players, overarching deposit limits across a player's total spending, and additional tools to address illegal gambling operators. The cabinet also said it is researching whether to limit the total number of online gambling licence holders, which currently stands at around 30.
No source establishes a procedural connection between the June 2026 policy proposals and the licensing decisions announced in September. The two developments sit on separate tracks: the cabinet's proposals are prospective legislative measures that would need to be enacted, while the follow-up licensing mechanism was already built into the Remote Gambling Act when it took effect in 2021.
What Happens Next?
The KSA's announcement does not disclose how many operators applied for a follow-up licence in this round, whether any application was refused, or whether any decision remains pending. It also does not specify a date for the next round of follow-up decisions, which will apply to operators licensed after the market's 2021 launch as their own five-year terms approach expiry. What is established is that the first round — covering the eight operators that have been part of the regulated Dutch online market since its opening — has been completed, with the KSA stating that all eight applicants meet the requirements for a follow-up licence and may continue operating through September 2031 under their new licences.
