Land-based gambling operators in the Netherlands are facing renewed pressure as new regulatory data shows a continued decline in revenue across physical casinos and gaming halls.
Despite the size of the total licensed gambling market holding steady at €4.3bn in 2024, the land-based component contracted noticeably, reflecting an ongoing structural shift toward online play and changing consumer behaviour.
According to the Netherlands Gambling Authority’s (KSA) latest annual Market Scan, GGR from land-based casinos fell by €61m in 2024.
The decline pushed the segment’s contribution down to €1.30bn, compared with €1.36bn the previous year, after adjusting for inflation.
The downturn comes despite the stabilisation of the overall market, but the report notes that land-based casino revenue has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
When indexed to 2019 figures, GGR for land-based casino play remains 27% lower. This forecasts longer-term headwinds for operators reliant on in-person visitation.
The gaming halls sector has also contracted significantly. The number of locations dropped from 217 in 2023 to 196 in 2024, with available player positions across hall-based machines falling from 24,692 to 20,997 during the same period.
Holland Casino, the country’s sole licensed land-based casino operator, reported 6,233 gaming positions at the end of 2024, a slight decrease from the previous year.
Its table game network also shrank, falling to 364 tables across 14 venues. The Zandvoort facility, which had only a handful of tables remaining, closed permanently on 31 January of this year.
In contrast, online casino activity remained comparatively resilient. While online GGR dipped modestly by €13m in 2024, the segment still accounted for 46% of all casino-related revenue.
The report indicates that the introduction of new deposit-limit rules in October 2024 contributed to the slight decline, but online play continues to make up a substantial share of the market.
The shifting balance has financial implications for public revenues as well.
Although total gambling-tax payments rose slightly to €1.03bn due to a higher tax rate, land-based casino providers contributed €396m of the total, down from €401m the year prior.
The broader trend suggests a mounting need for land-based operators to adapt to a paradigm increasingly dominated by digital platforms.
Consumer loss figures showed that Dutch adults lost an average of €197 on land-based gambling in 2024, compared with €101 online.
While overall spending remains below the European average, the national pattern shows a gradual movement towards online channels, as physical venues continue to face contraction in both supply and demand.
A previously published monitoring update from the KSA showed that illegal online gambling in the Netherlands continued to expand during the first half of 2025, while the licensed market shrank.
The semiannual report indicated that the unregulated online gambling segment has now overtaken the legal sector in size for the first time since online gambling became regulated in 2021.
The findings align with international patterns observed in other regions, where tighter restrictions have often coincided with an upswing in unlicensed activity. The KSA’s data suggests a similar shift is occurring in the Dutch market.
From January through June 2025, licensed providers generated roughly €600m in GGR, a decline of 14% compared with the previous reporting period.
The regulator links this downturn to the stricter responsible gaming measures that took effect in October 2024, which introduced the Responsible Gaming Policy 2024 and new rules governing player spending limits.
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