Nearly half of Dutch municipalities to extend opening hours for World Cup matches

Hospitality venues will be allowed to stay open later during matches involving the Dutch national team in roughly half of Dutch municipalities during the upcoming FIFA World Cup, according to the industry association Koninklijke Horeca Nederland (KHN). During matches in which the Netherlands is playing, hospitality businesses in at least 170 of the country's 342 municipalities may remain open beyond the regular closing hours set out in local regulations.

Because the World Cup is being staged in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, matches will often kick off at late hours in the Netherlands due to the six- to nine-hour time difference. To ensure fans can watch the games in bars and cafés, the KHN urged municipalities to temporarily allow longer opening hours.

Support for extended hospitality opening hours has grown significantly in recent months. While only 14 percent of municipalities had agreed to relax the rules in March, that figure has now increased to nearly half of all municipalities. The momentum was boosted in early June when the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, approved a motion urging more flexible opening hours, prompting the government to engage with local authorities on the issue.

Late kick-off times will not only affect Dutch matches. Games involving teams from countries with sizeable communities in the Netherlands, including Curaçao, Cape Verde, Morocco, and Turkey, are also scheduled for late hours. According to the hospitality association, most municipalities have based their exemptions on Oranje's fixtures, and it remains unclear how many will extend those arrangements to matches involving other national teams.

Oranje open their World Cup campaign on Sunday with a 10 p.m. clash against Japan. Group-stage fixtures against Sweden on June 20 and Tunisia on June 26 follow, with the latter kicking off at 1 a.m. Dutch time. Should Oranje progress beyond the group stage, fans may even have to stay up until dawn, as a possible knockout match could start as late as 5 a.m. local time.

The Tweede Kamer has also recently adopted a motion addressing the cost of showing football matches in hospitality venues. Business owners are required to pay licensing fees to Videma, which operates on behalf of the NOS, the holder of the tournament’s Dutch broadcasting rights. While the minister has promised to raise the issue with the NOS, no concrete commitments have been made so far.