The High Court of England & Wales has rejected an appeal by Lottoland and Multi Lotto UK to allow bets on non-UK based EuroMillions draws.
The companies challenged UK rules implemented this year that prohibit betting on the outcome of EuroMillions lottery draws in other countries. The appeal named the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sports and the UK Gambling Commission and National Lottery operator Camelot UK.
The two companies had been accepting bets on EuroMillions, a pan-European lottery game that is not operated by Camelot or governed by the UK Gambling Commission in other countries. However, regulators closed the loophole enacting rules against offering bets on “the outcome of a non-UK EuroMillions draw or on the result of a EuroMillions lottery, regardless of the name given to that lottery or how that lottery is described in any jurisdiction.”
Lottoland and Multi Lotto claimed regulators had denied them the ability to offer a product outside their jurisdiction. Regulators charged that synthetic lotteries undermined the position of Camelot as operator of the National Lottery and UK distributor of EuroMillions tickets, raising money for good causes.
The UK High Court ruled that the amendments were fair and within the culture department’s jurisdiction. The court ruled that the rules could stand on the “grounds of protecting recognized public policy initiatives” such as securing National Lottery funds.
The court also ruled that individual “member-state gambling policy is not a harmonized legal discipline” across EU jurisdictions, allowing DCMS and its associates to carry-out policy corrections/amendments.
