7 minute read
Lottery
by SBC Global
2009. More recently, the operator has branched out into other countries such as Turkey last year.
A step into the UK market would, therefore, be a familiar one for Sisal, albeit in the face of some strong competition for the Fourth National Lottery licence.
Camelot
In March, Camelot demonstrated its pursuit of growth for the lottery, as well as a commitment to its retail roots by sealing a notable deal with supermarket chain Aldi.
Following a successful trial in the north of England, the agreement will see all 900 of Aldi’s stores across the UK sell Lotto, EuroMillions, Lotto HotPicks, EuroMillions HotPicks, Set For Life and Thunderball games at their checkouts by the end of June, allowing customers to purchase tickets when doing their food shop.
Jenny Blogg, Retail Director at Camelot, commented on the deal: “We’re absolutely delighted to now be working with Aldi. Making The National Lottery available in its stores has been a priority for us as we continue to make playing The National Lottery as convenient and easy as possible for people, wherever and however they shop.
“We’re pleased that Aldi customers will now have a quick, easy and convenient way to purchase their favourite National Lottery games, while at the same time contributing to the £30m that goes to National Lottery Good Causes each and every week. We certainly hope there’ll be plenty of lucky tickets bought in Aldi stores across the UK.”
However, this deal has come under some scrutiny as Stuart Reddish, the President of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN), believes it could mean fewer people visiting their local independent shops to play the lottery.
Reddish said: “This move will dilute sales across the whole retail estate. The more products available in the multiple outlets, the less likely it is that National Lottery players will visit their local independent retailer to pick up their tickets or scratchcards.”
Sazka/Allwyn
Over the past few months, Sazka has made several additions to its National Lottery bid team advisory board that will provide counsel to Bid Chair Sir Keith Mills, Bid Director Alaistair Ruxton and the wider team as part of its pursuit of the licence. It has also established Allwyn, a new British corporate identity that will bring together parts of its UK operations under a single brand.
Commenting on Allwyn, Bid Chair Mills stated: “At Allwyn, as part of Sazka Group, we make lotteries better so that they can serve as a force for good. We often do this by bringing the fun back to lotteries that have lost their spark, while always safeguarding our players – ensuring sustainable growth and more money to good causes along the way.
“We bring a fresh perspective to lotteries, one that is powered by vast experience in different consumer environments. With innovative partners still to come on board, an experienced steward in Sazka Group – Europe’s leading lottery operator – and an impressive advisory board that includes Justin King and Brent Hoberman, Allwyn is building an exciting future proposition for the UK market.”
Allwyn’s bid advisory board includes experts from a range of fields, including good causes, player protection, digital and innovation, and entertainment. Five notable additions to the board include former Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King; former Global CEO of Syco Entertainment Charles Garland; founder of lastminute.com Brent
Sir Keith Mills
Hoberman; CEO of Semble Amanda Horton-Mastin; and the Managing Director of Twitter UK Dara Nasr.
King will work on retail strategy and how the lottery can play an integral role in the revitalisation of the high street and local retail post-COVID-19, as Allwyn will draw on his expertise to improve the customer experience, support independent retailers and expand the lottery’s product and marketing portfolio.
Garland will use his experience to advise the bid team on how to widen the lottery’s appeal to consumers and bring back 8.5 million lost players, including proposals to overhaul its marketing strategy and improve its brand engagement, while ensuring a compelling customer experience across all sales channels.
As a tech entrepreneur, Hoberman will advise primarily on the seamless integration and management of technology and digital innovation across Allwyn’s plans for the lottery. Drawing on his expertise in tech innovation, Allwyn will seek to improve customer experience, help enable better safeguards around player participation, to support the regulator and the distributors, and to strengthen the work in funding good causes.
Horton-Mastin will bring her expertise in good causes to the bid advisory board. She previously worked for over 20 years at the UK-based charity Comic Relief.
Meanwhile, Nasr is an established leader in the world of digital communications having worked for Twitter and Google. As Managing Director of Twitter UK, he built one of
the strongest sales teams in the UK media landscape.
Allwyn has also selected Vodafone as its connectivity partner. It believes the technology communications company can ‘enable the integration of new, exciting features and capabilities’ for the lottery to keep ahead of consumer demands as well as play a vital role in strengthening player protection.
These five appointments, as well as the establishment of Allwyn and the partnership with Vodafone, show Sazka’s clear battle plan for the National Lottery to help reinvigorate the game and keep up with the forever changing online marketplace as well as maximising support for good causes.
However, this direction has been under criticism by NRFN President Reddish, who believes Sazka’s digital approach for the lottery would be ‘a major kick in the teeth’ for retailers that have helped the game grow since its inception in 1994.
Looking forward
Sazka is putting a big emphasis on hires to showcase that it’s in a strong position to run the National Lottery if selected by the Gambling Commission. Camelot is demonstrating with additional sale points that it can still grow the lottery even more than has been achieved over the past 27 years, while Sisal is a surprise entrant looking to make its own case for selection.
As we enter the final few months of the Invitation to Apply, it is clear that the competition is hotting up with new operators entering the frame and potentially more to join the fray. Every entrant so far has put forward a strong case for selection, leaving the Commission with a difficult decision to make in September. •
WE’LL MEET AGAIN… IN MALTA AND BARCELONA
Rasmus Sojmark, Founder and CEO at SBC
JULY WILL SEE THE LONG-AWAITED RETURN of in-person industry events when Malta hosts CasinoBeats Summit, but that won’t mean the end of virtual events
For many, the prospect of the resumption of physical events and the much-needed opportunity to reconnect with friends from the business world faceto-face is an exciting development.
However, while the familiar buzz of the exhibition floor and the cut-andthrust of the conference room may represent a very welcome step back towards normality, no-one should expect a return to full pre-March 2020 working practices.
That’s in part because we’ve learned that, with notable exceptions such as the retail and hospitality sectors, a surprisingly large amount of business can be conducted without ever having to leave the house.
While the lifestyle sections of ‘quality’ newspapers painted a picture of lockdown as long days filled with nothing more than baking banana bread, finishing Netflix and draining the world’s supply of Rioja, the reality was that most people found ways to remain productive by making technology work for them and their companies.
The events industry epitomised this willingness to adapt to circumstances and helped the betting and gaming sector continue to connect, exchange ideas and talk business by organising digital events such as the groundbreaking SBC Digital Summit, to replace the physical conferences which suffered enforced cancellations.
The digital format proved popular with audiences and it is easy to understand why. It provides access to the insights of some of the most influential figures in the industry, information about the next generation of product developments, and a way for suppliers to reach potential customers
