Kindred seeks to rebuild Dutch customer base as Unibet goes live with flood of bonus offers
The homepage showcases a variety of offers that Kindred will be using to entice customers – both old and new – to the brand’s offering online sportsbook and casino offering.
Unibet was a big name in the Netherlands’ unregulated market, but that all ended with the introduction of the Netherlands’ Remote Gambling Act and subsequent market launch at the back end of last year.
Kindred withdrew its services from the Netherlands in September 2021, one month ahead of the regulated market launch on 1 October.
The period that followed was fraught for Kindred, as its share price fell from as high as SEK167 before the withdrawal to under SEK84 in April of this year – almost halving in value in a matter of months.
This was driven by successive profit warnings, with the Dutch withdrawal likely to cost as much as £12m per month in EBITDA, representing around 30% of total group EBITDA.Crucially, the Netherlands’ online gaming regulations state that operators may not use customer data accrued during their time in the nation’s unlicensed market, meaning Unibet must now begin to rebuild its customer base from scratch.
Part of that process was revealed last month, as Kindred announced a new commercial deal with Dutch football giants Ajax, in a partnership focused on preventing betting-related match-fixing and promoting mental health awareness and responsible gambling.
Promotions available on the site include four €10 free bets, 200 cash-free casino spins, €40 in free live casino chips and a €25,000 giveaway.
The marketing environment in the Netherlands is more restricted now that the market is regulated.
KSA chairman Rene Jansen has reportedly warned licensees to curb their excessive marketing activity, while a ban on the use of role models and former footballers in gambling advertising was implemented from 30 June.