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Dutch National Lottery Escalates Offshore Crackdown With Skyhills Lawsuit

By jili tutorial · September 2, 2026

Dutch National Lottery Escalates Offshore Crackdown With Skyhills Lawsuit

Nederlandse Loterij takes legal action against Skyhills, marking its third lawsuit as local operators intensify efforts to combat unlicensed gambling.

The Dutch state-owned lottery, Nederlandse Loterij, has filed a lawsuit against offshore gambling operator Skyhills, continuing a broader campaign to protect the regulated Dutch market. This is the third such case initiated by the lottery in recent months.

Nederlandse Loterij ordered Skyhills’ operators and directors to stop marketing to players in the Netherlands. CEO Arjan Blok stated that Skyhills had used deceptive advertising, including on TikTok, to reach Dutch consumers—particularly younger audiences.

“Skyhills explicitly targets Dutch players, especially young people, with misleading ads,” Blok said. “They can gamble there completely unprotected, with all the associated risks.”

After issuing a cease-and-desist letter, Nederlandse Loterij confirmed that Skyhills had been made inaccessible within the Netherlands.

Previous Cases Against Lalabet and Qbet

This lawsuit follows earlier actions against two other offshore operators: Lalabet and Qbet. The Qbet case is expected to go to court later this year.

In June, a Dutch court ruled largely in favor of Nederlandse Loterij in the Lalabet case. The court found that the site’s operators and directors had acted unlawfully and must cease targeting Dutch players. The defendants were also ordered to disclose information about Lalabet’s ownership and corporate structure.

However, the court found insufficient evidence that DECC, a Curaçao-based trust firm, knowingly facilitated illegal gambling for the Dutch market. While the court noted that trust administrators and local representatives can be held liable, it declined to rule against DECC in this instance. Nederlandse Loterij is appealing that part of the decision.

Calls for Stronger Government and Industry Action

Nederlandse Loterij is urging the Dutch government to take a tougher stance against unlicensed operators. Speaking ahead of a parliamentary gambling debate on Thursday, Blok supported proposals to give the Dutch regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) , more power to crack down on illegal sites.

But Blok emphasized that enforcement should go beyond regulation. “We must fight illegal gambling sites—where players are completely unprotected—together,” he said. “Banks, payment providers, and hosting services also have a responsibility in this.”

Warning Against a Full Advertising Ban

Nederlandse Loterij also cautioned against a complete advertising ban for licensed operators. Since 2023, a ban on untargeted gambling ads has been in place. The lottery argues that further restricting the legal market could make offshore operators more attractive and harder for consumers to distinguish from legitimate ones.

Illegal Ads Dominate Meta Platforms, Says VNLOK

Separate research from the Dutch online gambling association, VNLOK, found that unlicensed operators are responsible for the vast majority of gambling advertisements reaching Dutch users on Facebook and Instagram.

VNLOK analyzed 65,000 gambling ads with the highest reach. It found that 96.5% of ads in May were illegal, dropping slightly to 93.7% in June. Illegal advertising appeared across thousands of Facebook pages. In June, 98.8% of gambling ads from identified pages directed users toward unlicensed operators.

VNLOK noted that operators increasingly use cloaking techniques, Telegram redirects, and the branding of well-known licensed companies to evade detection. Removal rates remain low: Meta removed only 11% of over 60,000 illegal ads tracked in May and 15% in June.

VNLOK Chairman Björn Fuchs said illegal gambling ads continue to appear “on a large scale,” undermining player protection. The association launched proceedings against Meta in June and filed a complaint with the European Commission.

VNLOK is calling for a system where gambling advertisers targeting Dutch consumers must undergo license verification before their ads are published.