Gambling Regulatory News: UK, Netherlands & Italy — November 2026

UK: what did Chancellor Healey change on Machine Games Duty, and who does it hit?

John Healey, appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer on 20 July 2026, delivered his first Budget on 28 October 2026. The policy raises Machine Games Duty from 20% to 25% for Category B gaming machines — those with stakes over £1 or prizes over £100 — effective 1 April 2027. The higher rate applies to machines in casinos, betting shops and bingo halls; pubs and arcades keep paying the existing lower rate.

The rise lands well below the 40% some operators had been bracing for, and trade coverage of the announcement frames it as the Budget sparing online-only brands while taking a direct swing at retail and land-based-adjacent machine revenue instead. It also comes on top of the Remote Gaming Duty increase from 21% to 40% already confirmed for April 2026, which we've covered in detail elsewhere on this blog — meaning UK operators with both online and retail footprints are now absorbing two separate duty rises inside twelve months.

Why it matters for link building: a second duty rise in a year is a genuine solvency signal for smaller land-based-linked operators, not just a margin story. Before committing budget to UKGC-licensed link building against a brand with meaningful retail or arcade exposure, it's worth checking whether that side of the business can actually absorb the April 2027 change.

Netherlands: how much did the licensed online market actually shrink in 2025?

By a lot. The Kansspelautoriteit's own 2025 market data puts the total licensed Dutch gambling market at €4.1 billion in gross gaming revenue for 2025, down from an inflation-adjusted €4.5 billion in 2024. Online revenue took the brunt of it, falling roughly 21% to €1.20 billion from €1.52 billion.

The breakdown by vertical:

• Online casino GGR: €947 million (down 18.2%)
• Online sports betting GGR: €254 million (down 30.2%)
• Total licensed market GGR: €4.1 billion (down from €4.5 billion in 2024)
• Gambling tax rate since 1 January 2026: 37.8% of GGR

Is the Dutch market still shrinking, or has it stabilized?

Early 2026 data points toward stabilization rather than continued decline. The regulator's first-half 2026 monitoring figures put licensed online GGR at roughly €670 million — about 11% above the second half of 2025 — suggesting the combination of deposit limits and the higher tax rate that drove the 2025 contraction may already be priced into the market rather than still actively shrinking it.

Why it matters for link building: a market that's bottoming out is a better one to build in than a market still in free fall, but the underlying tax pressure hasn't gone away. For KSA-licensed Dutch operator campaigns, that argues for prioritizing editorial placements tied to brands that have clearly weathered the 2025 contraction over ones whose financials are still catching up to the new 37.8% rate.

Italy: how much is gambling expected to contribute to the 2027 budget, and what's the catch?

€700 million. Italy's Cabinet approved its draft 2027 budget on 28 October 2026, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni confirming the gambling sector's contribution at €700 million — down from the €1 billion the Ministry of Economy and Finance had floated earlier in the process, and sitting inside an overall budget package worth roughly €26 billion for 2027 and €27 billion for 2028.

The lower figure came with a trade-off: as part of the deal, ADM's existing land-based gambling concessions were extended through the end of 2028 rather than being put out for a fresh tender, giving current concessionaires continuity instead of near-term competitive disruption.

Why it matters for link building: a concession extension is a stability signal for ADM-licensed Italian operators specifically — the brands you'd be building toward aren't facing a 2027 tender scramble that could change who holds a license mid-campaign. The budget still needs parliamentary approval before year-end, so the €700 million figure isn't locked in yet.

What does November's news mean for link building across these three markets?

The three stories point the same way even though the mechanics differ: regulators in the UK and Italy are both leaning on gambling operators to help close fiscal gaps, while the Netherlands is still digesting the effect of doing exactly that a year earlier. None of it is a reason to pause campaigns in these markets, but it's a reason to re-verify a target brand's financial footing before a placement goes live, particularly for operators with meaningful UK retail exposure or Dutch online-only revenue.

That kind of ongoing due diligence is exactly what a disciplined gambling link building vendor should already be doing on your behalf, and it's the standard agency-focused casino backlink programs are built to meet across every market a client operates in.