Lion Festival

About Lion Festival

According to Nederlandse Loterij, illegal operators currently control approximately half of the Dutch online gambling market and account for roughly 95% of online gambling advertisements, frequently masquerading as licensed providers. 

The Loterij suggested around 200,000 Dutch citizens already engage with unauthorised platforms.

Earlier this summer, the Dutch Online Gaming Providers (VNLOK) trade body initiated legal action against Meta and lodged a formal complaint with the European Commission, accusing the social media giant of failing to prevent the widespread display of illegal online gambling advertisements targeting Dutch users on Facebook and Instagram. 

About Lion Festival

During the lawmaking process, Full House’s exclusivity was stripped in favor of welcoming any company currently licensed as a commercial casino in the US to bid on the possible license. Lawmakers also threw in a one-time $150 million fee for the concession and a mandatory investment minimum of $500 million, all but ending Full House’s interest.

“The bill changed many times. We make money in Rising Sun. We always have, not a lot of money, but we make money. We continue to make money in Rising Sun. And we will continue to do that for our shareholders, as well as for the good of the state,” Full House CEO Daniel Lee said in March.

If any county approves its local casino referendum, the county government would be required to conduct a request for proposals and submit a winning project to the IGC.

About Lion Festival

Both LiveScore and Tombola, who were a part of the original 10 operators to receive a licence, exited the market in 2024. 

Compared to the 2021 licensing round, the KSA adopted a more granular and stringent approach to its licence renewal process. This was expected following new policy rules set out by the regulator in September 2025.

One such rule was for licensees that had faced compliance enforcement during the five years operating in the Netherlands.