A five-year licence extension has been granted to TOTO Online by the Dutch gambling authority, Kansspelautoriteit.
The iGaming provider, owned and operated by Nederlandse Loterij, will begin the exploitation of the new licensing agreement on 1 October 2026.
TOTO offers individual online, lottery and sports betting products, provided by three out of the 10 brands in Nederlandse Loterij’s portfolio, the others being Staatsloterij (National Lottery), Eurojackpot, Lotto, Miljoenenspel, Lucky Day, Scratch Cards, and Winnitt.
Most of the proceeds generated from the business activities of the above brands is funnelled back into the public, with Nederlandse Loterij investing a total of €200.6m across various social initiatives in 2025 alone. Contributions from TOTO will now continue to at least 2031.
And although TOTO is the current market leader, according to market analysis data from Blask, Nederlandse Loterij and all other licensed gambling providers in the Netherlands have somewhat of an uphill battle ahead of them.
First, there is the highly debated gambling tax rate. Operators in the country are facing one of the highest taxes in Europe, set at 37.8% of GGR since the start of this January following an increase to 34.2% the previous year.
The licensed sector tried to rally against the hikes, citing illegal gambling concerns, but to no avail, given that the Netherlands temporarily fell into a political turmoil following the approval of the base tax rate increase.
Interestingly, revenue generated from taxes after the first phased increase dropped compared to 2024, showcasing somewhat of a failure to accomplish the goals set out by the policy in the first place.
Moreover, channelisation rates have continued to worsen, with estimates suggesting that more than 53% of online gambling spend occurs on the black market.
Nederlandse Loterij and its Chief Executive Officer, Arjan Blok, have been vocal opponents of overregulation, making their views on what consequences of this could be very clear.
With TOTO now in possession of a licence for the next five years, it has the delicate task of balancing between increasingly restricting regulation, strict compliance, keep building an attractive product, and maintain the highest player protection standards.