UKGC reveals updates in Allwyn’s lottery licence

The Gambling Commission’s lottery chief has given more details on the practicalities of the impending fourth National Lottery licence, handed to Allwyn.

Allwyn was named as the preferred applicant back in March 2022, with IGT recently dropping a claim relating to the ruling.

John Tanner, the Gambling Commission’s executive director for the fourth National Lottery licence, has said that over time, as Allwyn “rolls out its plans for the National Lottery,” players will see changes which “we expect will lead to higher returns to good causes.”

In a blog post for the UK regulator, Tanner added that a bigger proportion of money spent on the lottery will end up with good causes across the country and in communities through the “Incentive Mechanism” that the new licence has been designed around.

He said this means that “all National Lottery products will make returns to good causes at the same level.”

“It also means that for the company who runs the National Lottery – Allwyn – it will only see its profits go up if Returns to Good Causes go up,” he added.

“Safer gambling remains at the heart of the Fourth Licence too and the Commission will regulate the Licence so that it remains a safe product for people to play and enjoy.

“Finally, we have built the Licence in a way to encourage investment in innovation for the length of the licence, by adopting an outcomes-based model that builds in certainty on how long the licence will last: 10 years (with the possibility for an extension in particular circumstances, but only if we see value for the National Lottery from doing so).”