But due to delays – in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic – the law didn’t come into effect until March 2021. Initially, lawmakers hoped for KOA to enter into law in July 2020, with the market opening in January 2021.
However, it took time for Dutch authorities to actually open the regulated market. While progress was initially slow, lawmakers agreed on the Remote Gambling Act (KOA) in February 2019. The Dutch government felt that by having a set company running each different facet of the betting market, they would be able to maintain a handle on the level of gambling, and the monitor practices of the firms selected.īeginning in 2015, legislation began circulating that would legalise online betting in the Netherlands, with the goal of moving players away from other European betting sites and into a regulated local market. The purpose of this new entity was to control the six betting monopolies in the country (all of the different formats of gambling that were legal). To regulate all gambling within the country, the Netherlands Gaming Control Board was formed in 1996.
