Camelot No Longer Appealing  National Lottery Licence Decision

Camelot No Longer Appealing  National Lottery Licence Decision

Camelot No Longer Appealing  National Lottery Licence Decision


Camelot has announced that they will no longer be appealing against the decision to name Allwyn Entertainment UK as the new National Lottery licence holders.

This is good news for Allwyn but there is still imminent court action. While Camelot won’t be appealing the decision, IGT will. They also applied for the National Lottery licence that is due to begin in early 2024.

Since the National Lottery began in the UK in 1994, the only licence holders have been Camelot. However, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) were responsible for deciding who would be granted what would be the fourth licence. Earlier this year, they announced that it was Allwyn Entertainment UK who were their ‘preferred applicant.’

Court action

With this decision made, the next step was to begin an enabling agreement. This would prepare Allwyn for a smooth takeover in 2024. The decision was met with dismay by Camelot and IGT. Court action followed and a ruling was made that suspended the enabling agreement.

This put us in a position where the National Lottery might be suspended if the enabling agreement process had not been completed in time. That court decision was overruled but then imposed again as permission was given for an appeal against the UKGC decision.

Compensation sought

Camelot have now decided not to go ahead with their appeal. They stated that it had “become clear” to them that the “potential damages” of their appeal “would have been too large.” Carrying on with the appeal would also be “too great a commercial risk” for the company. Instead, they will now look to receive compensation for them not being awarded the fourth National Lottery licence.

The UKGC say that a “fair and robust competition” had been held to determine the new National Lottery licence holders. Their decision was “carried out fairly and lawfully” in accordance with their statutory rules.

They now plan to continue to work to implement the decision that they have made. This will have the aim of ensuring a “seamless and timely transition to the new licence.”

Buy your tickets now from Lottery24.