Camelot gets to hang onto its National Lottery license an extra six months until February 2024 as the British Gambling Commission pushed naming the winner of the license bid back to February 2022.
The Commission had planned to pick the winner in September of this year.
Alas, the regulator chose to tack on another four weeks to the second part of the process and six more weeks to evaluate the bids.
“These changes will provide the opportunity for applicants to further refine their proposals and for the Commission to evaluate,” the regulator said.
The extension of Camelot’s license will ease the transition to the next company, the Commission said.
“Our job is to run the best competition we possibly can, one that is open and fair and results in the best outcome for players and good causes,” the Commission said. “We want to appoint a licensee that can build on the National Lottery’s legacy and find new opportunities for a sustainable and successful future.”
Candidates for a new license include Sazka Group, Sugal & Damani, Sisal plus BT. Camelot may be added to the mix.
Meanwhile Camelot will put its efforts into creating a strong lottery to generate funds for charitable causes.
“We remain focused on continuing to build on four years of successive growth, which has seen us achieve record sales, and delivering even more money, funding which is vitally important as the U.K. continues to recover from the Covid-19 crisis,” a Camelot spokesperson said.
The lottery raised £420.7 million, up 10 percent from Q1 of 2020-21, but down from any of the three previous quarters.
