The Dutch Lower House passed a Remote Gaming Bill last year. Recent reports suggest that the Netherlands could regulate its online gambling market as early as next summer.
Ahead of the upcoming Amsterdam Affiliate Conference (AAC) 2017 and iGaming Super Show in Amsterdam, we spoke to Manou Coutard, account manager at the Netherlands-based MyCasinoShare, about the opportunities a regulated Dutch online market could pose – plus the challenges and openings relating to the already-legal Belgian iGaming landscape.Income Access (IA): Online gambling in the Netherlands could become regulated next year. How successful do you think iGaming would be in Holland?
Manou Coutard (MC): Because the Netherlands is an untapped market, great opportunities exist for legal casinos. Many are waiting for online legislation to change before applying for a license. The Dutch government would then need to create an airtight set of rules which can’t be easily bypassed.
IA: Would your Belgium-facing brands Blitz.be and Supergame.be expand into the Netherlands if this market does go live? MC: Yes. Because Supergame has several land-based casinos in Holland as well as Belgium, we have the required experience it takes to operate in the Netherlands.IA: If the Netherlands does regulate, what will be the digital marketing challenges?MC: Although we have experience of operating land-based casinos in the Netherlands, the online world will be a challenge since we don’t know how different regulation will be. We also don’t know which types of games will be permitted, which poses a challenge regarding the kind of marketing material you can use. We’ll also need to identify Belgian and Dutch players’ cultural differences, and cater accordingly.IA: Belgium’s iGaming market is already regulated. Are there any specific verticals or unique casino games that Belgian players are particularly interested in? MC: I would say that between 75% and 90% of Belgian players play dice games and dice slots. Since the B+ type online casinos, which take up 80% of the total number of online casinos, are restricted in the type of games they can provide, the dice games were meant to differentiate the B+ from the A+ licensed casinos. These games are unique and derived from the Dice Spinner, which is very well-known in Belgium.IA: What are the digital marketing challenges that you face while operating in the Belgian market? MC: The main challenge in Belgium is that the rules and regulations aren’t always clear. Email clients, for example, quickly put a stamp of spam mail when your campaign uses the wrong words in your title and/or e-mail.
The same goes for Facebook, although this is somewhat of a grey area. If you decide to join the commercial side of this medium, however, you’ll notice that there are far less objections.IA: What are the digital marketing benefits of operating in the Belgian market? MC: Because the Belgian market is well-protected, there are still opportunities for each casino to advertise and get their share of exposure – even though the competition is fierce.IA: How important is affiliate marketing to the acquisition strategies of Blitz.be and Supergame.be, compared to your other digital marketing channels? MC: Although we had a somewhat slow start, we’re now noticing a great increase in the number of players coming from this channel. The cost and conversion rate we get from working with affiliates is much more lucrative than any other type of digital marketing channel.IA: In what ways do you think that affiliate marketing in a niche region such as Benelux poses an advantage, compared to a more saturated market like the UK? MC: Benelux, at least in the form of the Belgian market and soon the Dutch one, only has a set amount of licenses compared to more saturated markets such as the UK. Because of this, there is a controlled number of casinos who are allowed to advertise.IA: Thanks for chatting with us, Manou. We wish MyCasinoShare the best of luck for the rest of this year and beyond!
For more information on the MyCasinoShare brand, please reach out to Manou.
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