Allwyn promises makeover for UK National Lottery
With the hearing of Camelot’s legal challenge about to get underway, Allywn’s CEO has detailed his plans for the National Lottery.
UK.- Allwyn appears to remain confident that it will be confirmed as the new operator of the UK National Lottery despite a potentially drawn out legal challenge from current operator Camelot. CEO Robert Chvatal has laid out the Czech giant’s plans for the lottery for when it takes over in February 2024.
There has been some scepticism towards Allwyn among UK politicians due to alleged between owner, Karel Komarek, and Russian energy supplier Gazprom.
Speaking to The Times, Chvatal said Allwyn would modernise the lottery through the right combination of brand, games and “the best technology”.
He said: “Players never need to miss a small win. It should look and feel modern and slick rather than dated and tired, both in retail and online. This is what we do…in many markets. We believe that no monopoly in the world can guarantee you relevance to the consumer.
“People will be judging us on how we re-energise and reinvigorate the lottery here.”
He says Allwyn will aim to win back the millions of customers the National Lottery has lost since the peak of its popularity by refreshing games. Specifically, he said scratchcards would be given a makeover to remove their association with gambling addiction.
He said he believed lottery scratch cards had been “demonised” in the UK while they’re viewed differently in other countries. He suggested marketing could change that. As an example, he noted that in Allwyn’s native Czech Republic, seasonal scratchcards are given as gifts at Christmas, allowing people to “dream a little”.
Camelot’s legal challenge
There are fears that the UK National Lottery could face a pause in activity due to Camelot’s legal challenge against the Gambling Commission’s decision to award the next licence to Allwyn. The Gambling Commission has also estimated the legal challenge could drain over £1bn from National Lottery good causes funding.
However, Chvatal said he was “hopeful” that the UK rule of law and common sense would prevail, lamenting the harm to good causes funding that a “war of attrition” with Camelot could cause.
“There’s not much time to waste,” he said. “The biggest victim could be the lottery itself.”
He added: “In our bid, we tried to bring the best of Europe to the UK with a competent British team…. I can only say that elsewhere we are in the business of making lotteries better and running contemporary lotteries from A to Z, like the scope of licence in the UK.”
Allwyn delivered its H1 financial results last week. At the time, chief executive Robert Chvatal said: “We look forward to the Court of Appeal hearing in September of the current operator’s appeal of the High Court’s decision to allow the license award to proceed and the formal transition period to begin.”
