Camelot loses National Lottery licence after 28 years as Czech contender Allwyn gets the jackpot
Camelot failed to land a bonus ball this morning after Czech gambling giant Allwyn scooped up the fourth National Lottery bid worth millions of pounds.
Allwyn, which was recently rebranded and anglified from Sazka, beat Italian powerhouse Sisal and media mogul Richard Desmond in snatching the 28 year long contract from the UK firm.
Camelot CEO Nigel Railton said he was “incredibly disappointed” by the Gambling Commission’s decision, and was deciding the company’s next steps.
Meanwhile, Allwyn’s UK chairman and former Sainsbury’s chief Justin King called the National Lottery “a vital British institution”, signalling the company’s determination to make the UK lottery synonymous with good causes.
The National Lottery has raised more than £45bn for 660,000 causes since 1994, and City PM understands that Europe’s largest lottery operator is set to slash ticket prices from £2 to £1 for those who enjoy a flutter.
It has also pledged to double charitable donations to £38bn over the next decade.
The wider industry also seemed to welcome the decision, with the Director of Clean Up Gambling Matt Zarb-Cousin suggesting that the move “signals a change” for the wider industry.
“Camelot’s tenure saw the lottery increasingly associated with the wider gambling sector, due to the rise of online instant win games more reminiscent of casino and slot products than a lottery draw”, he told City PM
“While this might have been good for Camelot’s profits, it meant a lower proportion of total revenue going to good causes”.
In the year to March 2021, sales of lottery games gave Camelot a turnover of £8.4bn, giving it a pre-tax profit of around £95.2m.
So whilst Camelot has been named the reserve applicant for the commission, the announcement undoubtedly represents a huge blow for the British company and its ongoing survival.
Nevertheless, it’s not all thunderballs and jackpots for Allwyn either.
Sazka founder and tycoon Karel Komarek was recently in the spotlight for his links with the Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom.
In 2013, the Czech billionaire signed a joint venture with the Russian firm to build an underground gas storage facility in Moravia, which has been in operation since 2016.
It is understood that Komarek is currently in talks with the Czech government to nationalise this facility, thereby removing Gazprom’s ownership.
The Gambling Commission said that it was “satisfied that no application is impacted by sanctions related to the conflict in Ukraine”.
The commission’s final decision for the contract is expected to be confirmed later this year with a transfer to the new operator set to be completed by 2024.