Retailers concerned by threat posed by Lottoland
Company is "a huge threat to retail agents selling legitimate tickets that do deliver funds to good causes” says RGDATA's Tara Buckley
Print23 March 2017
Retailers have raised concerns that Lottoland, a new betting website where Irish people can bet on the outcome of any lottery around the world, is a threat to licensed National Lotteries, retailers, and lotto funded organisations in Ireland.
Lottoland, with a head office in Gibraltar provides punters with the opportunity to bet on the outcome of large lotteries such as the Euromillions and US Powerball lottery that is currently at an estimated $155m jackpot.
How it works
The lottery system works by awarding punters who bet on the correct lottery numbers; smaller rewards are paid out from the company’s ticket sales revenue and large pay-outs are protected by insurance policies.
The biggest threat Lottoland poses is to registered retailers and the charitable and other associations that rely on funding from the lotto.
“Retailers welcome any efforts to increase the retail sale National Lottery products, the prizes and the money raised for good causes and will continue to be responsible retailers within their local communities” said Tara Buckley, RGDATA’s director general addressing the Oireachtas Finance Committee a fortnight ago.
National Lottery funds
In Ireland, approximately 30 cent of every euro of National Lottery sales revenue goes towards good causes such as the Irish Paralympic team, who receive funding from the National Lottery through Sport Ireland.
According to the 2013 national Lottery Act the following sectors benefit from National Lottery funding: sport and recreation; national culture and heritage (including the Irish language); the arts; health of the community; youth, welfare and amenities, and natural environment. To date the National Lottery has raised almost €5bn for good causes.
“This has huge implications for how people play National Lotteries and I make no bones about the fact that they are a huge threat to retail agents selling legitimate tickets that do deliver funds to good causes.” said Buckley.
Lottoland is not a small company; employing over 150 people and growing fast, the business currently operates in: Ireland, UK, Germany, Poland, Australia, Hungary, Portugal, Austria, and Sweden.
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