UK National Lottery tech revamp reportedly misses deadlines
Allwyn is reportedly now working on a deadline of February 2025 to revamp the National Lottery’s technology.
UK.- Allwyn has reportedly faced delays in implementing the tech upgrades for the UK National Lottery that it pledged to make when it won the ten-year licence from the Gambling Commission. The Czech gambling giant took over from Camelot on February 1, but has reportedly missed several deadlines for the revamp.
According to The Telegraph, sources with knowledge of the matter say that Allywn is now aiming to meet the deadline of February 2025 but that this could be put back to the summer or even later. The tech upgrades are apparently proving to be a challenge, with one person likening the process to “trying to stick a Microsoft system on top of an Apple computer”. Allwyn’s board was expected to meet last week to decide when to transition to the new system.
The process was delayed from the outset because Camelot’s former tech provider IGT lodged a legal challenge against the Gambling Commission’s tender decision but later entered into a tech partnership with Allwyn.
The Telegraph reported that the delays have raised doubts about the amount of funds Allwyn will be able to give to good causes. Allwyn won the Gambling Commission’s tender with a pledge to double the amount of funding raised from £17bn to £38bn during its licence period. It appears that Allwyn will fall behind the forecast in the first two years but still hopes to make up for this in the later years of the licence.
Allwyn noted that its first ten months running the lottery had seen work start on revamping 40,000 retail outlets as well as the launch of new products Paris 2024, Lotto and Set For Life campaigns and the introduction of a scratchcard purchase limit.
Allwyn International reported unaudited Q2 results showing a 5 per cent rise in revenue to €2.15bn. It highlighted strong organic growth at OPAP in Greece, Sazka in the Czech Republic and Casinos Austria.
Adjusted EBITDA was down by 11 per cent to €340m. However, figures are not directly comparable due to the start of Allwyn’s operation of the UK National Lottery in the first quarter. Excluding the UK, EBITDA was up by 4 per cent. The international division’s head office has moved from the Czech capital of Prague to Switzerland under the new legal name of Allwyn International AG.
