Online lottery provider Lottoland is free to continue to operate Down Under, despite a recent ruling by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) that contended its gambling products are illegal.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, in a blow for $9 billion ASX-listed Tabcorp, on August 16 the New South Wales Supreme Court ruled in favor of Lottoland in a claim it brought in response to the ACMA ruling.
In June, the ACMA found that all except one of Lottoland’s products violate Australian regulations that prohibit online betting on games of chance.
The Gibraltar-based Lottoland offers online “jackpot betting” in which participants choose a series of numbers like a traditional lottery, but the winner is determined by the results of financial market indices.
Lottoland started offering the jackpot bets in 2018 after the Australian government outlawed its previous product, which let customers bet on the outcome of local or international lotto draws without buying a ticket, the Herald reported.
Justice John Sackar ruled that Lottoland’s products are legal because players bet on the outcome of an “event,” not on a “game.” In response, ACMA Chairwoman Nerida O’Loughlin said the body will “give careful consideration to the judgment and its implications for Australia’s online gambling regulation.”
Lottoland Australia’s CEO Luke Brill said in a statement that the AMCA’s view is “wrong, unfair, and uncompetitive.”
“With the matter now settled, Lottoland Australia can finally get on with what it does best—providing new and exciting products that Australian punters love,” he said.
Lottoland debuted in Australia in 2014. It has faced consistent opposition from news agents and government-licensed lottery operators who say Lottoland is siphoning off their business and robbing the government of millions in tax dollars.
Tabcorp is Australia’s largest licensed lottery operator. Its Tatts unit includes Lotto, Oz Lotto and Powerball, and has been profitable, in contrast to a slowdown in Tabcorp’s wagering business. The group’s full-year results disclosed earlier this month showed the lotto business generated earnings of $509 million in 2019, or about half of the company’s total profit.
