The Dutch general elections in October could lead to sweeping reforms in the country’s gambling industry, and esports are likely to get caught in the crossfire.
Gambling is now a hot-button issue in the Netherlands as the country’s general elections in October loom closer. One candidate, Dilan Yeşilgöz, has pledged to reform the country’s national gambling regulator, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), in the interest of clamping down on illegal activity. The political party People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VDD) has added stricter gambling rules to its political manifesto and is expected to maintain its presence in prime minister Dick Schoof‘s administration after October. This could stifle existing attempts to legalize esports betting in the country.
Esports betting is not explicitly legal in the Netherlands, but citizens can still access foreign betting sites.
Despite gamers from the country making waves at the elite level across multiple titles, esports gambling has yet to fully recognized by the Dutch government. However, traditional sports betting is legal and regulated. This is because the Netherlands relies on sanctioning bodies to declare sporting competitions fair and valid, such as FIFA for soccer or the ICC for cricket. According to Dutch law, esports has no equivalent governing bodies.
Image Credit: Remko de Waal
The VDD, led by Yeşilgöz, has added the following statements to its political manifesto.
“We are reforming the Remote Gambling Act to combat gambling addiction… We give the [KSA] more powers to supervise online gambling providers and take enforcement action… In consultation with other European member states, there must also be a creative approach to combat illegal gambling companies that is in line with the approach to criminal networks,” reads the manifesto.
While esports gambling is illegal for Dutch citizens, it is still possible for them use cryptocurrency-based services or foreign bookies to place bets. If the KSA becomes stronger, it could crack down on citizens using legal loopholes or anonymous systems to gamble. This also decreases the odds of esports betting becoming legal in the future.
Image Credit: ESL
Esports players from the Netherlands have achieved great success across a variety of games. Dota 2 star support Melchior “Seleri” Hillenkamp is the country’s highest earning player, taking home more than $1.3 million in prize money. He won $300,000 at Riyadh Masters 2024 alone and has placed second at The International twice. Fortnite phenom Dave “Rojo” Jong earned $1.125 million from a second-place finish in duos at the 2019 Fortnite World Cup. CS2 fans should recognize Christiaan “chrisJ” de Jong, who earned over $600,000 across ten years of competitive play.
No matter how well its citizens perform, the VDD still plans to crack down on esports gambling if it gains power in the October Dutch elections.
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