The Dutch Gaming Authority (Kansspelautoriteit/KSA) has published a new report comparing the industry’s performance in 2025 and the first half of 2026. While the 2025 results were weighed down by taxes and regulatory headwinds, the first half of 2026 recorded an increase in accounts, driven by the World Cup.
KSA Published Its Annual Market Scan, Highlighting 2025 Headwinds
In its annual market scan, the KSA stated that the licensed gambling sector reported gross gaming revenue of EUR 4.1 billion ($4.6 million) for 2025 versus EUR 4.5 billion in the prior-year period. The KSA elaborated that these results reflected an 18.2% decrease in iGaming GGR to EUR 923.4 million ($1,029.7 million) and a 30.2% decrease in online betting GGR to EUR 251.2 million ($280.1 million).
The KSA noted that these decreases are partly attributable to the introduction of new player protection measures, such as a net deposit limit.
In the meantime, the land-based sector reported a 4.7% decline in overall GGR. Gaming machines at arcades and hospitality venues reported GGR of EUR 539 million ($601.1 million) and EUR 104 million ($116 million), respectively.
Holland Casino was an outlier that ditched the broader trend, reporting a 2.8% increase in GGR for 2025. The company, which is the sole operator allowed to operate land-based casinos, reported a total GGR of EUR 683 million ($761.7 million) for the period. The KSA clarified that the increase was thanks to strong slot gaming performance, despite the fact that Holland Casino is best-known for its table games.
The First Half of 2026 Was Better, Underpinned by the World Cup
In addition to reporting the 2025 results, the KSA published its Monitoring Report for the first half of 2026. It showed that the online GGR for H1 2026 reached EUR 670 million ($747.2 million), up from EUR 602 million in H2 2025.
Casino gaming GGR was EUR 492 million ($548.7 million), while online sports betting revenue hit EUR 163 million ($181.8 million). These figures suggest that sports betting’s market share increased, which could be attributed to the FIFA World Cup.
The report also took a look at a variety of relevant figures, such as how much players lost on average and how many active players participated in gambling.
One of the highlights of that report is the increase in online gambling accounts to 1.48 million. The KSA emphasized that this does not reflect the number of active players, since many have multiple accounts in order to avoid limits.
The KSA added that its estimates put the number of monthly gamblers at 490,000. At the same time, the authority estimates that roughly 820,000 people gambled in the first half of 2026, which shows that not everyone gambles every month. The KSA added that the H1 2026 increase was also driven by the FIFA World Cup.
The H1 2026 channelization rates also seem to have stabilized, with 94% of gamblers choosing to play with legal operators. In terms of GGR channelization, 59% of all money spent on online gambling was spent with legal companies, up from 54% in H2 2025. Despite the improvement, this still suggests that people who gamble with illegal operators lose more money.
In terms of gambling addiction, the KSA reported that there were 14% more people undergoing treatment in 2025 than in 2024. In H1 2026, the number of people at high risk remained the same, the number of people at moderate risk decreased, and the number of people at low risk increased.