The Netherlands has walled its gambling advertising regulation, and now lawmakers and regulators want to get it right. However, before any changes or hasty choices are taken, the Dutch government will seek public input and has started a new consultation to that goal.

Franc Weerwind, the Dutch Minister of Legal Protection, has announced that the country will aim to minimize the possibly negative influence of gambling commercials, but only after first examining present advertising practices. The minister intends to do this in three steps.

To begin, the Parliament has been advised to prohibit untargeted advertising on television, radio, and in physical public locations. This step is expected to be implemented in 2023. The notion is that exposing ordinary people to gambling marketing could have negative implications.

Another regulation is expected to be implemented in 2024, when the country will restrict relationships between casino providers and television and media companies. The country will next impose even more limitations and suspend any agreements inked between sports teams and gaming enterprises.

It will take time to see if these limits are enacted. The public consultation will primarily reveal how society thinks about these limits and if they are in the best interests of all. Businesses may object, but in comparison to other European countries, the planned modifications are not overly severe.

Spain and Italy have roughly the same restrictions. The United Kingdom intends to ban Premier League shirt sponsorships, and while many measures are still being debated around the continent, the overarching tendency is to make gambling less obvious and conspicuous.

VNLOK and NOGA, two Dutch gaming trade associations, have naturally protested to tightening limitations on how the country advertises. The gaming industry has faced a few advertising challenges since its inception in 2021. Unibet, a company that just recently joined the market, admits to flaws in the way it promoted its bonuses.

Meanwhile, Dutch authorities have attempted to prohibit "role models" from participating in gambling, referring to well-known people whose appearance and resemblance may be used by gambling companies to attract new consumers. The country is also targeting loot boxes, which are digital items used in video games and have been linked to gambling addiction in children.

However, one of the publishers of such digital products, Electronic Arts, recently won a lawsuit in which a Dutch court ruled that loot boxes are not a kind of gambling.