Bet-on-lotteries operator Lottoland has notched a new feat under its belt after securing a license in Gibraltar for lottery messenger services.
The license, issued by the Government of Gibraltar Licensing Authority, is a first of its kind which will allow the gambling company to resell official tickets for international lottery products, in addition to its existing services, according to Lottoland. The lottery operator currently provides customers with the chance to bet on the outcome of more than 25 lotteries around the world.
Lottoland chief strategy officer Elicia Bravo said securing the license will help the company in markets where state-owned lotteries are “unwilling to give up their monopolies and/or do not recognize lottery betting.”
“The ability to also offer a licensed lottery messenger service will allow us to bring choice to customers in many more markets around the world,” Bravo said in a statement. “Furthermore, it also underlines our strategy of becoming an online lottery operator with the full range of products—including lottery betting, lottery messenger, instant lotteries as well as B2B and B2G services.”
Bravo said that securing “the first fully recognizable and legally binding license in the area” shows the online betting operator is committed to “lead through innovation.”
Lottoland, which was established in May 2013, has more than 5 million customers worldwide and has generated a revenue of €300 million ($317.9 million) last year. The figure puts Lottoland in direct competition with ZEAL Network, which has been providing secondary lottery ticket products to bettors for several years already.
“There are already several other companies out there offering messenger services; however, none of these operators have been granted fully licensed rights to do so,” Bravo said.
Lottoland has come under pressure from a number of operators in the past few years, including UK National Lottery operator Camelot. In November, Camelot CEO Andy Duncan claimed National Lottery’s 6% sales drop was due to “direct, often aggressive, competition” from “bet-on-lottery firms purporting to offer the same products as the National Lottery.”
The shot, clearly aimed at Lottoland, didn’t go unnoticed by CEO Nigel Birrell, who told CalvinAyre.com that Camelot’s slumping sales were “a clear indication that the UK lottery market cannot and shouldn’t hide from technological progress and competition forever.”
