The public’s growing preference for scratch cards and instant win games is eroding the proportion of sales that go to good causes.
National Lottery operator Camelot is to refresh the suite of prize draw games it offers in a bid to shore up its business model and maximise the money it passes on to good causes.
The changes will mean bigger prizes and more frequent jackpot wins in its flagship Lotto game, and more special draws with guaranteed winners in its Euromillions game.
The company is also planning to launch a new “annuity game” next year, offering a top prize of thousands of pounds every month for at least 25 years, although this has not yet been approved by regulators.
Scratch cards
The changes follow a strategic review last year, which recommended improving the National Lottery’s range of games so that it could “get back into long-term, sustainable growth and raising as much money as possible for good causes”.
Prior to the review, the Lottery had seen steadily falling returns to good causes, in part because of the public’s growing preference for scratch cards and instant win games over prize draws. In 2016/17, these accounted for 42% of the company’s sales income, compared to just over a quarter (26%) in 2011/12.
Camelot’s 2016/17 annual report said: “Draw-based games return more in percentage terms than scratch cards and instant win games… the changing sales mix between these products will result in a change in return to good causes.”
Stabilised
The National Lottery’s returns to good causes stabilised in 2017/18, rising very slightly by £27m to £1.66bn following a long period of decline. The percentage of sales Camelot returned to good causes was 23.8% - again slightly higher than its level of 23.5% level the previous year, but still well below the 28% averaged until 2012/13.
Total lottery ticket sales also rose, increasing by £26.4m to £6.95bn.
These improvements followed steep falls the previous year, when returns to good causes fell to their lowest level for seven years.
Balanced
Camelot CEO Nigel Railton said that the company’s review had indicated that it needed to create a more balanced range of games.
“In particular, we needed to make our draw games stand out from each other and to give people the ability to play their way – with prizes, chances to win and prices to suit different tastes,” said Railton.
“The portfolio updates we are announcing today will complement the other initiatives we are bringing in across retail and digital, as well as our ongoing work to make The National Lottery brand more relevant and visible – and will ensure that The National Lottery as a whole continues to deliver for both players and good causes alike.”
The planned changes follow the launch of a new UK-only game as part of Euromillions and an extra draw day for its Thunderball game in January this year. Camelot said that both these initiatives had boosted returns to good causes in the last two months of 2017/18.