Kansspelautoriteit, the Dutch gaming authority, has issued a fine of €400,000 to gambling provider BetEnt for an advertising violation.
In a statement, the KSA said that the Entain-owned company has targeted young adults with its advertising – 18-to-24-year-olds – which is forbidden in the country.
Similar to the fine issued to bet365’s Hillside New Media Malta last month, the regulator started an investigation into BetEnt following the broadcast of Kassa, a consumer-focused TV programme that conducts investigations into products and services and tests them.
The programme stated that BetEnt, which trades as BetCity in the Dutch digital marketplace, sent advertising messages to young adults between 18 October 2021 and 24 March 2022.
KSA noted that this isn’t allowed since “young adults are a vulnerable target group. The brains of young people are still developing. As a result, they are extra susceptible to a gambling addiction”.
The regulator also discovered that BetEnt sent messages to young adults in its online gambling customer base on its website Betcity.nl between 8 October 2021 and 16 March 2022.
Although Entain is the current parent company of BetEnt and BetCity, the advertising offences occurred six months before the FTSE 100 group acquired the Dutch firm in June 2021, and 10 months before integration into its brand portfolio in January 2023.
In the past six months, three gambling providers have been fined by the KSA as a result of the same Kassa investigation.
KSA Chairman, René Jansen, commented: “The law prohibits gambling providers from targeting young adults with advertising.
“The Gaming Authority closely monitors this and, with these four sanctions, once again underlines the importance of gambling providers respecting the rules intended to protect vulnerable target groups.”