Wednesday, August 18, 2004

National Lottery on the Decline? Camelot says No

Camelot furious over Mintel claims of National Lottery decline

Research Agency, Mintel has just released a report that claims the National Lottery is on the decline in the UK.

As Mintel's leisure analyst, Mark Brechin, claims; "The situation for Camelot does look pretty precarious..The introduction of new games have failed to sustain long-term interest...The biggest problem seems to be way the lottery is run. People are bored with the main Lotto draw and want more prizes with lower jackpots. They also want to see the money they spend go back to their local communities"

According to the Independent Online

- The report found that the percentage of Britons playing the main Saturday night draw has fallen to 63 per cent in 2004 from 76 per cent in 1999. It argues that the introduction of new games has led to a cannibalisation of sales, and the number of people playing its Thunderball draw has halved over the past five years to just 8 per cent. These figures compare with a 1 per cent drop in betting on sports events, such as horses and greyhounds, over the same period and a 2 per cent drop in fruit and quiz machine use.

Naturally, Camelot, the organisers of the Lottery, are not amused or impressed. They claim the research is just 'spin' and the lottery is in fact enjoying an increase in sales recently. They've also challenged the alleged proportion of players - saying they have maintained their 70% of the UK population buying tickets.

Personally, i'm not a big fan of the lottery - its odds are ridiculous and the games are pointless. I fully agree that cannibalisation is hurting the main Lotto game. The one thing that is clear - Camelot do not seem to fully understand 'gambling' that well - or the mindset of a player - in that, they should stick to what they do know - and just offer a lottery and perhaps some scratchcards. The rest are just superfluous.

However, its all for a good cause (allegedly) - and plays on the dreams of everyone - so lets not knock it too much methinks

posted by jo @ 4:02 PM   0 comments

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