Britain falls back in love with lottery
THE National Lottery’s once shaky fortunes are now ticketyboo, thanks to a surge of digital players chasing EuroMillions mega-jackpots, operator Camelot said yesterday.
Despite the cost-of-living crisis, sales for the first half of the year raked in nearly £4.1billion, passing the £4billion mark for the first time.
Purchases from April to September grew 2.6 per cent, although retail revenue fell 4.7 per cent to £2.2billion as people visited stores less frequently.
In another half-year record, nearly £1billion was given to good causes, taking the total raised to £47billion since the Lottery’s launch in 1994.
Players won more than £2.3billion in prize money, which was up £28.6million on last year, with 169 new millionaires created.
Chief executive Nigel Railton, who was parachuted into Camelot in 2017 to revive the struggling business, said despite the economic squeeze, encouraging people to “play a little” kept the Lottery in good health.
He said: “This record half-year performance confirms that we have a very healthy and successful National Lottery that continues to benefit the whole of the UK.”
Camelot said the boom, driven by online and mobile sales, was largely down to the lure of EuroMillions rollover jackpots.
The strong results crown the National Lottery’s successful turnaround under Mr Railton.
He reversed falling sales and, as a consequence, less money for good causes by revamping the Lotto’s digital offering, adding more games, and striking deals with businesses such as discount supermarket Aldi. Among the causes that received Lottery backing this year were the Big Jubilee Street Party at the Manchester Arena.
And more than £22million was given to communities celebrating Queen Elizabeth’s 70-year reign.
Elite athletes competing at the Commonwealth Games benefited from more than £40million funding.
The National Lottery also held a gig to celebrate England’s victory at the UEFA Women’s Euros. It featured The Lightning Seeds and David Baddiel performing the Three Lions anthem.
The Lotto, which has ploughed more than £50million into football and its grassroots, also helped current Lionesses Lucy Bronze, Jill Scott and Ellen White on their way to stardom. Camelot, which has held the licence to run the Lottery since its launch, is being bought by Czech operator Allwyn for £100million. In September, Allwyn won the right to run the Lottery for a decade, starting in February 2024.