Earlier this year Allwyn Entertainment were chosen to be the new UK National Lottery operators. They will replace Camelot UK in 2024 but have now purchased the current licence holders.
They have purchased Camelot UK from its owner, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan. No official amount for the acquisition has been confirmed but it’s believed to be £100 million.
The National Lottery launched in 1994 and the past 28 years have seen it run by Camelot. The decision on who would be granted the next licence was in the hands of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).
They decided that their preferred choice was Allwyn Entertainment not Camelot UK. That decision didn’t please Camelot and seven months ago, they launched an appeal. The announcement of an appeal led to a suspension of the process that is required for the handover of the licence in February 2024.
September saw Camelot drop their appeal as did IGT who had also applied to be the National Lottery operator. The dropping of those appeals meant the fear of the handover being delayed was over. If that had happened, the UKGC said it would have “severe consequences for the National Lottery and good causes.’
Camelot UK may have dropped their appeal but had been planning to sue the UKGC. They were going to be seeking millions of pounds of compensation but with this purchase by Allwyn Entertainment, it looks as if the court action won’t take place.
The deal that sees Allwyn Entertainment purchase Camelot UK is expected to be finalised in early 2023. The UKGC are yet to clear the purchase.
In the meantime, Camelot UK will run separately from their new owners. Most of their 900 members of staff had already been due to join Allwyn in 2024.
The Czech company has big plans for the National Lottery. One is to cut the current £2 price for a Lotto ticket to just £1. They are also promising new games to play and to raise a substantially higher amount for good causes. That was believed to be one of the reasons that convinced the UKGC to choose them as their preferred applicant.
Will we see higher jackpots in the future? The current rules for the Lotto draw limits how high the jackpot can get. Must-be-won draws ensure that the jackpot is regularly won. It seems unlikely we’ll ever get to the situation in Italy’s national lottery.
The SuperEnalotto jackpot hasn’t been won since May 2021. That’s despite there being three draws a week. The next draw is on Tuesday 22 November with a 312.5 million euro top prize. With no jackpot cap, it can just keep on rising. There’s no talk of Allwyn Entertainment following suit
