The UK Gambling Commission has announced that the contentious fourth National Lottery license, which was awarded to Allwyn Entertainment, has now come into effect as of today, February 1st, 2024.
As part of its deal, Allwyn has made a commitment to invest in the National Lottery’s products and services. This is expected to have a significant impact both on contributions to good causes and access to lottery products and services for the general public.
One of the key changes for the fourth license is the addition of a newly created ‘Incentive Mechanism’. This means that all National Lottery products will now make Returns to Good Causes at the same level. More significantly from a business perspective is the fact that it also means that Allwyn will only see a growth in profits if Returns to Good Causes also increase.
Andrew Rhodes, Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, said:
“This is a historic moment, the first time the National Lottery has changed operator and the Commission is pleased to have reached this milestone. The Fourth Licence by design will mean more of every pound spent on the National Lottery will go to Good Causes whilst still making sure it is safe to play.
The National Lottery celebrates its 30th birthday this year and in that time it’s made a huge impact on the UK. Everyone at the Commission is committed to moving forwards with Allwyn and Government to make the Fourth Licence a big success for players and for the Good Causes that rely upon it up and down the country.”
John Tanner, Gambling Commission Executive Director and Senior Responsible Owner for the Fourth National Lottery Licence competition, added:
“The Commission is grateful to colleagues at both Allwyn as the new operator of the National Lottery and Camelot as the outgoing operator for their work to get us to this point successfully. Many people, especially at the Commission have already worked extremely hard to make sure that the next ten years of the National Lottery are even more successful and I would like to thank them for that.”
Contentious Fourth License
The UK Gambling Commission announced that it had formally awarded the fourth National Lottery License to Allwyn Entertainment in September of 2022.
This led to legal proceedings by both incumbent operator Camelot and new applicant IGT which were given permission to appeal the Commission’s decision to award the fourth National Lottery license to Allwyn.
However, both Camelot and IGT have since withdrawn their appeals allowing the Commission to move forward with the formal awarding of the license.
Olivia has worked as an editor and writer for major brands across multiple niches. She now focuses on the iGaming and sports betting industries.