Netherlands iGaming Market Grows 28% in 2025, KSA Signals Further Restriction on Bonus Promotions

The Netherlands' Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has published its annual market report for 2025, confirming that the regulated online gambling market — which launched in October 2021 — generated €1.64 billion in gross gaming revenue last year, a 28% increase over 2024 and more than double the GGR recorded in the market's first full year of operation.

The growth has been driven by expanding player acquisition as awareness of the regulated market grows, improved mobile product experiences, and the continued withdrawal of grey-market operators following the KSA's aggressive enforcement programme, which has levied fines totalling more than €45 million since the market opened.

However, alongside the positive market figures, the KSA has published a consultation document signalling its intention to further restrict the use of bonus promotions by licensed operators. Current rules already prohibit welcome bonuses for new players and limit the use of free spins. The new proposals would extend these restrictions to loyalty schemes, cashback offers, and reload bonuses for existing players.

Operators have responded with alarm. Several told iGaming Pulse that the bonus restrictions, if implemented as proposed, would "fundamentally undermine their customer retention economics" and risk accelerating player churn to unlicensed offshore sites.

"The KSA seems to view every commercial tool that operators use as inherently harmful. At some point you have to ask whether the licensed market can remain commercially viable under these conditions," said one senior operator executive who asked not to be named.

The KSA consultation closes on 15 March 2026, with a final decision expected in Q3.