Following the Gambling Commission’s announcement that Allwyn Entertainment has been shortlisted as the new operator for the UK National Lottery, the Camelot Group, the outgoing operator, is considering taking legal action in retaliation.
Since its establishment in 1994, the Camelot Group had been awarded the license to operate the National Lottery with repeated extensions over the decades; as such, the company had already expected to maintain the status quo through to the next license granting in 2024. In an unusual upset, however, Camelot was unsuccessful in its bid to win the lottery contract from Allwyn, a business headed by Czech billionaire Karel Komarek, a Czech billionaire.
In response, Camelot had announced its intention to take legal action against the Gambling Commission. In particular, Camelot took issue with a 15 percent discount regulation that was part of the bidding process and was supposed to be taken into consideration by the UKGC. However, this detail was ignored.
As a result, Camelot thought that it had drastically decreased its prospects of obtaining the license and that it had damaged an otherwise "winning" proposal. Given this, the corporation has not yet issued a formal comment on the subject, which is understandable.
Following the selection of Allwyn as the new operator of the National Lottery, Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the Gambling Commission, expressed his confidence in the success of the new operator. Rhodes added that choosing Allwyn for the new license would help bring in more revenue for the National Lottery that would go to charitable causes, while also fuelling innovation in the space, especially important given the National Lottery’s position.
If Camelot does not file its planned lawsuit against the Gambling Commission, Allwyn is scheduled to assume control of the National Lottery next year with its new license that lasts 10 years.
