Holland Casino has secured a new five-year licence to continue offering online gambling in the Netherlands from 1 October 2026. The decision provides one of the first clear outcomes from the country’s follow-up licensing cycle, under which operators that entered the regulated market in 2021 must apply again and demonstrate that they meet stricter KSA standards.
The licence runs for five years: Holland Casino Online can remain in the regulated market from 1 October 2026 until 30 September 2031.
Approval was not automatic: Existing permits cannot simply be extended; incumbent operators must submit new applications.
Previous conduct matters: The KSA can consider regulatory failings and how operators have acted to prevent them from recurring.
Other incumbents face the same process: The first licences issued before the market opened expire on 1 October 2026.
Commercial pressure remains: Higher tax, licensing and compliance costs continue to affect the regulated Dutch market.
Holland Casino Online’s new permit will take effect on 1 October 2026, immediately after its original five-year licence expires. The state-owned operator will therefore retain uninterrupted access to the regulated Dutch online market through September 2031.
Holland Casino confirmed the decision on 6 August. Chief executive Petra de Ruiter said the operator would continue prioritising safer gambling while stressing the importance of a competitive regulated market.
Player protection always comes first. At the same time, it remains essential that the regulated market is attractive enough to keep players away from unregulated providers.
Although Holland Casino described the decision as a five-year extension, the regulatory distinction is important. The Kansspelautoriteit states that an expiring remote gambling licence cannot be extended. Existing operators must submit a new application through a dedicated procedure and demonstrate that they meet the regulator’s current requirements.
The first Dutch remote gambling licences were granted in September 2021 ahead of the market opening on 1 October. Because permits last for five years, the earliest group will reach the end of its initial term in October 2026.
Under the KSA’s 2026 rules, existing operators must provide an exit plan and explain how they will report significant changes to their policies or operations. The regulator also reassesses advertising and addiction-prevention policies, reviews previous compliance failures and conducts another integration test of the operator’s control database.
Where an operator has breached the rules, it must show what it learned and which measures it introduced to prevent repetition. The KSA can refuse a new licence or attach additional conditions if that explanation is inadequate.
The application also carries a higher cost. As detailed in the Netherlands’ revised online gambling licence fees, the charge for a new permit rose from €48,000 to €61,300 on 1 April 2026.
Holland Casino’s approval shows that incumbents can satisfy the updated process, but it does not indicate how the KSA will assess every applicant. Each operator’s governance, controls and compliance history will be considered individually.
The outcome is therefore significant for other businesses approaching the October deadline. A previous licence provides experience in the regulated market, but not a guaranteed route into the next five-year cycle.
The reassessment comes as licensed operators face a 37.8% gambling tax and competition from unlicensed platforms. Those pressures have already prompted warnings that higher Dutch gambling taxes could weaken the regulated market, while industry initiatives have focused on countering the influence of illegal operators.
For Holland Casino, the immediate result is certainty over its online market access until 2031. For the wider sector, the decision marks the start of a more consequential test: which of the original licensed operators can meet the KSA’s tougher requirements and remain in the Dutch market for a second term.
