KSA targets wider network behind illegal gambling

The 2026 enforcement strategy of the Dutch Gambling Authority (Kansspelautoriteit, KSA) will now include companies that assist unlicensed gambling sites in reaching Dutch players.

The KSA stated that it plans to increase oversight of the ‘entire ecosystem’ surrounding illicit gambling, including important business partners and technical suppliers, in its new regulatory agenda.

The regulator stated that payment providers, hosting companies, social media platforms and other B2B suppliers that provide assistance to unlicensed operators will be under stricter oversight from 2026.

The KSA explained that “The illegal market is more than just illegal gambling websites,” referring to the larger network of commercial partners that keep offshore brands accessible in the Netherlands.

The KSA, under the revised strategy, intends to make illegal gambling ‘inaccessible’ rather than dependent on enforcement, such as imposing fines on individual operators.

The plan is to cooperate more closely with the foreign regulators encountering similar problems, and also to have a greater level of interaction with private companies that supply services to online gambling businesses.

Although the agenda does not specify exact penalties for suppliers yet, the wording hints that there will be a strict approach to companies serving both the licensed and unlicensed markets.

In accordance with the KSA statement, almost 90% of the Dutch gamblers only bet with legally operating providers; however, the total channelisation of the share of total gambling revenues going to licensed websites is significantly lower.

The KSA’s latest monitoring data, released in October 2025, estimated that the channelisation rate had dropped to around 49% and that, for the first time since the legalisation of online gambling in 2021, the illegal online market had become larger than the licensed sector.