Mighty Sparta

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The Netherlands online gambling market has been the subject of many column inches and much speculation thanks to regulation that has been largely described as heavy-handed and perhaps a little short-sighted – even by the country’s own regulator.

The triumvirate of Netherlands, Germany and Sweden is often held up as an example of how not to regulate, with all three countries haemorrhaging players to waiting illegal operators. So what is public sentiment like towards operators? “My feeling is that if you look at public sentiment, they don’t see really the difference between online and land-based,” says Petra. “If you look into what they’re saying, they’re primarily talking online. But for the general public, there is no difference [between the channels] in that respect.”

She believes the sentiment towards gambling among the Dutch public is comparable to the UK, Finland, Germany, France. “So, very tense,” she says.

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Given that women account for nearly 60% of gaming customers in the US, Klebanow argues that Japan’s IRs should instead offer environments where this demographic feels “safe and comfortable”. The key lesson from pachinko, he concludes, is therefore “not to create gaming environments that mimic them”.

Ultimately Leckert remains positive on Japan’s IR opportunity. “Stringent regulation really supports a strong industry,” she says. “I don’t see those being at odds with one another, because it’s been done very successfully elsewhere.”

Japan’s ability to lure back the world’s biggest casino developers will hinge on the regulatory framework the government unveils later this year, says Klebanow.

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Tech Race Summit 2026 takes place on 10 September in Warsaw. It gathers the experts working on the technology behind today’s digital businesses.

According to Kastukevich, Tech Race Summit is filling a genuine void. Although he has seen plenty of business-focused conversation in iGaming, there is almost no dedicated space for engineering and technology discussions.

The event is positioned as knowledge-sharing infrastructure for the industry rather than a SOFTSWISS sales platform. With SOFTSWISS positioned as host rather than presenter, the focus stays on where senior technologists think the industry should be putting its investment and attention over the next six to twelve months.