The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) recently launched an investigation into operator TonyBet and issued a formal warning because the platform offered two types of betting options that violate Dutch law—Ballon d'Or winner and FIFA Club World Cup Ballon d'Or winner.
According to Dutch gambling regulations, operators can only offer sports betting on events organized by officially recognized national or international sports organizations, and on outcomes that can be objectively verified. Since the Ballon d'Or and the Club World Cup Ballon d'Or are determined by voting or a jury, they do not belong to the legally bettable sports markets.
KSA pointed out that according to the backend data of TonyBet, no players have placed bets on these two markets yet. TonyBet responded that it will strictly review the standards for product launches in the future to ensure compliance with regulations. The regulator also emphasized that even if betting is provided through third parties, licensed operators are still responsible for all markets they offer, and must proactively report unauthorized betting options to the regulatory authorities.
In April this year, KSA imposed a record fine of 730,000 euros on an unnamed Dutch licensed gambling operator for failing to effectively protect minors from gambling risks. Recently, KSA has also issued multiple warnings to operators including Unibet's parent company Optdeck, involving non-targeted advertising and autoplay issues.
Meanwhile, the latest data on Dutch gambling tax policy has attracted attention—the tax rate will increase from 30.5% to 34.2% starting January 1, 2025, and is planned to further rise to 37.8% by 2026, with a target to increase national gambling tax revenue to 202 million euros by 2028.
However, KSA's latest report shows that the total gambling revenue (GGR) of both online and offline gambling markets has declined in the first half of this year, leading to a decrease in total tax revenue. This result confirms the industry's concerns that a rapid increase in tax rates might backfire, suppressing market vitality and reducing tax sources.
This TonyBet investigation case and the reversal of tax policy effects highlight the dual challenges faced by Dutch gambling regulation: on one hand, it needs to strictly maintain compliance with legal market standards, and on the other hand, it also needs to balance tax revenue growth with sustainable industry development.
