Deposit limits in the Netherlands are shrinking the online gaming market

Monthly deposit limits introduced in the Netherlands in October 2024 appear to have shrunk the online gaming market. The regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has published two separate reports covering all of 2025 and the first half of 2026. Under the limits, the monthly deposit amount is capped at 300 euros for young adults, while the limit is set at 700 euros for those aged 24 and over.

According to the reports, gross online gaming revenue in 2025 fell by 18.2 percent in casino and by 30.2 percent in sports betting. The high starting level created by the 2024 Euro tournament also played a role in the decline in sports betting.

Player behavior has also changed. The total number of active accounts rose by 7.2 percent, from 1.38 million in the second half of 2025 to 1.48 million in the first half of 2026. In contrast, the number of individual players fell from 830 thousand to 820 thousand, and the number of monthly active individual players dropped from 510 thousand to 490 thousand. The share of the adult population playing online games remained stable between 5 and 6 percent.

This picture suggests that players are opening accounts with multiple licensed operators to get around the limits. On the other hand, although the KSA reports that 94 to 97 percent of players play fully or partially on licensed platforms, the estimated revenue of licensed providers in the first half of 2026 was calculated at only 59 percent. Based on this gap, the average loss of the 3 to 6 percent of players outside the licensed system is much higher than that of those on licensed platforms.