Dutch horse-betting licence may be drawn by notary if several qualify

One company will hold the Dutch licence to take bets on horse races at tracks and in physical betting shops from 1 July 2027 to 30 June 2032, and a draw may decide which. Only one licence exists because the activity is a legal monopoly.

The Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa), the Netherlands Gambling Authority, said it will start an open and transparent award procedure in January 2027.

The current holder is ZEbetting & Gaming Nederland B.V. Its licence expires on 30 June 2027.

The details

• What the licence covers: pari-mutuel (pool) betting on horse races, for land-based offers only. Online games fall under the separate remote gambling licensing system.
• Levy: each month the licence holder must pay 10% of gross gaming result (stakes minus winnings) to the horse-sport sector. This applies to bets on harness races and horse races held in the Netherlands.
• Fee: applicants pay €40,900 up front for handling the application. It is not refunded.
• Window: applications are accepted from 4 January to 31 January 2027.

How applications are judged

In the first phase the Ksa checks every application against a set of requirements. They include legal form and place of establishment, continuity, internal supervision, reliability, integrity policy, outsourcing policy, incident handling, prevention of excessive play, addiction and harm, prevention of play by minors, match-fixing policy, and demonstrable experience offering sports bets offline.

The second phase happens only if more than one applicant remains. A notary then names the winner by unweighted draw.

What’s next

The Ksa expects to publish the application form, the model licence and other procedure information on its website in December.