Holland Casino Online has secured a five-year renewal of its Dutch remote gambling licence from the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), with the new permit taking effect on 1 October and running to 2031.
The state-owned operator was part of the first group of licensees admitted when the Netherlands opened its regulated online market on 1 October 2021. Those original permits expire on 30 September 2026, which forces every operator in that cohort to reapply this year.
Four of the 2021 pioneers cleared so far
Holland Casino Online is not the only one through. Fair Play Online, TOTO Online and Kansino have all confirmed five-year renewals in the past week, each valid until 1 October 2031. TOTO Online, the Nederlandse Loterij subsidiary based in Rijswijk, holds a combined casino and sports betting permit. Kansino’s renewal was issued to its parent company, Play North Limited.
Several operators from the same 2021 intake have yet to clear the process. BetCity, GGPoker, bet365, Bingoal, ZEbet and Jacks.nl all face renewal applications in the second half of 2026.
Renewal is not a rubber stamp. The KSA assesses applicants against the current rulebook, not the one that existed in 2021. That now includes the deposit limit and affordability rules that took effect in October 2024, and a requirement for licensees to submit an exit plan setting out how player balances and data would be handled if the business collapses. Operators licensed in 2021 are being measured against five years of accumulated policy.
Channelisation remains the operator argument
Holland Casino chief executive Petra de Ruiter linked the renewal to the health of the legal market.
“In the coming period, we will continue to commit to a safe and responsible online offering, where player protection always comes first.”
“At the same time, it remains essential that the regulated market is attractive enough to keep players away from unregulated providers, where supervision and protection are lacking.”
The second point is the standing position of Dutch licensees. Operators argue that each new restriction moves demand towards sites without a Dutch permit, while the KSA and the Ministry of Justice and Security put consumer protection ahead of channelisation figures. The scale of the offshore market gives the argument weight: unregulated online gambling handled $5.9tn in wagers globally in 2025, according to the Global Coalition for Integrity.
KSA restarts advertising enforcement
The renewals came as the KSA resumed enforcement action after a short pause. The regulator has addressed BetCity and TOTO over breaches of the ban on using role models in gambling advertising, a restriction in force in the Netherlands since 2022.
Both cases came out of intensified supervision the KSA ran around the World Cup. Dutch rules prohibit the use of recognisable professional athletes in gambling advertising, including indirect references.
BetCity displayed betting options alongside national team shirts carrying the names and numbers of players including Kylian Mbappé and Michael Olise. The players did not appear in the advertisement, but the KSA found the combination created a clear association with professional athletes.
TOTO ran an advertisement reading “Mbappé hattrick? Win €100. Play here” next to a shirt showing his squad number. The regulator reached the same conclusion. Both operators removed the advertisements immediately after the KSA intervened.
The timing is awkward for TOTO, whose online arm had its licence renewed in the same week the enforcement notice landed. Neither case carried a fine, but both sit on the record as the regulator works through the remaining renewal applications.
The Netherlands is not alone in tightening advertising rules. Denmark has moved towards its own restrictions, with an advertising ban looming over a market where online casino leads growth.
What the remaining decisions will show
Six of the 2021 licensees still need a decision before the end of September, and the KSA has given no public indication that any of them will be refused. What the process does establish is a five-year review cycle in which every Dutch permit is reopened against whatever rules apply at the time, rather than the rules an operator entered under.
For the operators still waiting, the practical question is what conditions come attached rather than whether a licence arrives. The Dutch market has added deposit limits, affordability checks, advertising bans and exit planning since 2021, and the next five-year term starts from that baseline. Tracking how those obligations have accumulated across Europe is the subject of our 2025 European iGaming compliance review.
Source: Kansspelautoriteit
