Let’s reclaim the market and lead by example

Peter-Paul de Goeij, Managing Consultant at Quod Bonum Consulting & former Managing Director of the Netherland Online Gambling Association

The call “Let’s reclaim the market” goes to the heart of the matter: when the illegal market grows, everyone else loses, and gamblers especially so. During the opening of last year's Gaming in Germany Conference, the so-called “grey market” was re-labelled for what it really is: an ecosystem in which illegal operators and organised crime can meet, with fraud, money laundering and identity theft as close neighbours. It is an uncomfortable observation, but a necessary one.

The four remedies subsequently proposed to fight black-market growth are clear and practical: force Big Tech to become compliant with existing rules and regulations, cut off infrastructure and suppliers, use B2B licensing to weaken that infrastructure, and ensure that regulators work structurally with law enforcement. That is exactly the kind of broad front we need when illegal supply is no longer about “a few websites”, but about scale, speed and professionalism.

Leading by example

But if we are serious about reclaiming the market, there is one additional thing the sector must do: lead by example.

Because reclaiming is not achieved only by fighting harder against those on the other side of the fence. Reclaiming also means making the legal offer visibly better and safer to such an extent that the choice for consumers becomes self-evident. And not just better in product or service, but better in duty of care and consumer protection.

Lead by example means making duty of care a competitive advantage

Licensed operators have something illegal parties do not: the legitimacy to earn trust. And trust is not won with campaigns; it is won with conduct. Concretely, this means “duty of care” must not feel like compliance work for a separate department. It must be a business standard that runs through everything: product design, marketing, customer service, VIP policies, data practices, bonuses, affiliates, and payment flows.

If we do this consistently, the role of enforcement changes as well. The ambition should be that warnings and fines for licensed operators become the exception in future, not because supervision is weaker, but because we demonstrably operate at the right level.

What we can start doing today

Already, we can take the following steps and measure:

1. Intervene earlier, lighter, and more often

   We should not wait for “hard signals” to pile up. We can work with early, proportionate friction: limits, reality checks, cooling-off, guided routes to support, and above all a human conversation early and at the right moment.

2. End grey zones in marketing

   We can stop creative interpretations of rules, stop workarounds via affiliates, and stop implicit targeting of vulnerable groups. Legal can still be undesirable.

3. Make VIP policy auditable

   The question is not whether VIP is permitted. The question is whether it can be demonstrably safe. If it cannot, it is simply not mature enough for a regulated market.

4. Design bonuses as a protection tool, not an escalation tool

   We can design incentives that reduce harm, not bonuses that encourage chasing and undermine exactly what licensing regimes are designed to achieve.

5. Publish what we do, and what it achieves – radical transparency

   We can move beyond inputs (number of checks) to outcomes (successful interventions, reactivations after cooling-off, the share of at-risk gamblers who accept support). Transparency becomes reputation, and reputation drives channelisation.

6. Actively help cut off illegal infrastructure

   We can be stricter with payment providers, affiliates, software, lead generators, and data partners. The principle that suppliers to criminal enterprises must be excluded should become internal policy, not merely a request to the government.

What is in it for the industry: the strategic benefits

Every debate on additional powers, stronger blocking tools, or more intensive supervision ultimately faces one political litmus test: are we, as the legal sector, doing everything that is reasonably possible? If the answer is a credible “yes”, it becomes easier to hold Big Tech accountable, to strengthen B2B licensing, and to connect enforcement and supervision in practice.

“Let’s reclaim the market” is therefore not a campaign; it is a contract. With society, with politics, and above all with gamblers. And that contract becomes truly credible only when we not only ask for tougher action against illegal supply but also prove that “legal” stands for visibly better protection.

That is how we reclaim the market. Not only by enforcing the rules, but by setting the standard so consistently that it becomes the accepted norm.