Allwyn Plans Changes As It Becomes New National Lottery Operator
Last Updated: Thursday 1st February 2024, 12:31
For the first time in 30 years, the licence to run the National Lottery has officially changed hands, with Allwyn taking over operations from long-time incumbent Camelot. And new bosses are planning to make changes to ‘bring back the magic’ of the early days of the National Lottery.
Initially, you won’t notice many changes when you play the lottery. Apart from a couple of minor changes to the small print on your ticket, referencing the operator of the National Lottery, everything will continue the same.
After a complete upgrade to the system overnight, lottery terminals were up and running a bit later than usual on Thursday morning.
A new advertising strategy will now be rolled out to try to inspire both new and regular players, focusing on the merits of individual games and how they differ. The ultimate goal is to raise more money so that even more can be done to help the good causes that the National Lottery was set up to support.
A Must Be Won Lotto draw will take place on Saturday 2nd March to mark the start of the Allwyn era. Lotto will be at the center of the new marketing campaign, based around the slogan ‘Will You Be Next?’.
Speaking about Allwyn’s hopes for the future, CEO Andria Vidler said: “I want people to feel excited by The National Lottery again and players to believe that it could be them pulling out a winning ticket.
“Over time, we will introduce new ways of playing which will bring back the magic of those early days. We want more games that are more entertaining, that attract more people, because ultimately that means we raise more for National Lottery-funded projects.
“Players won’t see big changes from day one, but with amazing milestones on the way, such as the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics and the 30th Birthday, we plan exciting initiatives.”
What Could Change?
No changes have been announced yet, so any updated features or new games will be announced in due course by Allwyn.
Reports during the bidding process had widely suggested that Allwyn planned to cut the cost of a Lotto ticket back to £1, although that is now thought to be under review.
New draw-based games could be added in time, or the new operator could seek to join more multinational lotteries in the same vein as EuroMillions.
It is sure to be an exciting new chapter in the UK’s lottery history, and National-Lottery.com will continue to provide news of any developments, as well as all the results as soon as they are available.