Betsson Loses Dutch Appeal
by Glenn Baird - March 31, 2020

Betsson’s attempt to challenge a law in the Netherlands that prohibits text being published that promotes gambling has ended in failure.
Last week, the Council of State, the highest ranking administrative court in the Netherlands agreed with the country’s regulatory body, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) that any text promoting gambling was to remain outlawed.
The ruling came after Betsson challenged a ruling made by the KSA back in 2015.
The KSA ruled that Content Publishing Ltd (CPL), a subsidiary of Betsson, had promoted gambling by adding hyperlinks to various Betsson owned sites, something that is considered to be illegal advertising in the country.
The CPL argued that the text used was no more than ‘editorial information’ and that the law in Netherlands was far too vague for operators to properly understand.
In February 2019 the Hague sided the KSA before the case was passed onto the Council of State, which upheld the Hague’s findings, just last week.
CPL felt that they were being unfairly punished for something that they believe other operators are guilty of the same thing and have not been punished for it.
Their arguments fell on deaf ears as the initial decision was upheld.
This is not the first time that Betsson has faced punishment from the KSA, who fined Corona, a Betsson subsidiary, €300k for taking bets from Dutch gamblers without permission.