The Irish National Lottery has raised concerns related to the growth of so-called “bet-on-lottery” services. Such services allow players to place a bet on a lottery draw without purchasing a lottery ticket.
According to an independent research which has been carried out by the leading independent economic research organisation Indecon, has found that National Lottery games have suffered a decline of approximately 13% of the annual gambling and gaming expenditures generated in Ireland. Apart from that, the survey has also found that the country has one of the highest awareness of bet-on-lottery websites’ rates.
Only 6% of the survey respondents, however, revealed that they had ever placed a bet on lottery draws instead of buying a lottery ticket.
As reported by the National Lottery, about 28% of every euro spent by local customers, is redirected as contributions to community projects and initiatives, apart from the fact that it is also used for the money prizes granted to the winners. The Irish National Lottery further claims that lottery spending is also related to generating a variety of economic benefits for retail operators.
Dermot Griffin, who is Chief Executive of the Irish National Lottery, said that people who bet on lottery draws do not support the local community. He further noted that it was important for the customers to be aware of the fact that by supporting the National Lottery, they actually help the community – something that cannot be said for some of the foreign operators which offer their services online.
Lottery Operators Claim Survey Was Not Adequate
The Indecon report estimate that remote betting on lottery draws in Ireland was worth €2.07 billion in 2017. Retail revenue, on the other hand, amounted to €2.81 billion. The total value of the market was estimated to €5.6 billion when National Lottery takings are added.
The researchers from Indecon found that the public’s awareness of an unnamed competitor (with Lottoland believed to be that unnamed competitor), increased to 32% in May 2017 from 19% in August 2016. Data provided by Harris Interactive France, claims that 50% of Irish customers could name at least one lottery betting operator. In comparison, only 32% of UK customers are able to do that.
Two online lottery betting websites have questioned the suggestion of Mr. Griffin that lottery draws betting services are having a negative impact on communities by not providing funding for local good causes.
MyLotto24 and Lottoland released a joint statement, claiming that the Indecon report was unable to properly measure the size of the on-lottery betting market in Ireland, despite this fact has been formally established in another independent research. The two companies suggest that the combined lottery betting sales of three operators amounted to €1.4 million in 2017, with these figures representing around 0.25% of the overall draw-based sales of the National Lottery.
- Author
Daniel Williams
