Government spends 17 million euros on gambling ads, one euro per Dutchman. State-owned Holland Casino and Toto have raised the bar considerably on the eve of the opening of the online gambling market. Indeed, they are spending the most. On Thursday afternoon, the Lower House debates banning gambling advertising. The moment the first remote gambling (KOA) licences hit the mat before 1 October, millions flew out the door. From 1 September to 30 January, we counted media spending (television, radio, billboards and print) for the 10 new entrants totalling €36.7 million, of which almost €17 million came from participation in two countries.
Government spends 17 million on gambling advertising
Toto, a subsidiary of the Dutch Lottery and partly owned by the Ministry of Finance, is the absolute king with €9.6 million. The 100% state-owned casino Holland has so far spent over 7.3 million euros. Then nothing happens for a long time. The three business groups spent less than 5 million euros. These are British bingo site Tombola, BetCity and Batavia Casino.
Toto and Holland casino bid spenders on ads
By the end of January, Holland Casino's ad had appeared on the tube a whopping - wait for it - 7,870 times, according to the Research Bureau. Toto followed with 4385. In the first place where radio was ignored, Toto gambled there 1720 times. Other players are far behind those figures. Batavia, Tombola and BetCity had between 3,200 and almost 4,000 TV commercials.
