Camelot Reports Highest Lottery Sales
National Lottery operator Camelot has reported its highest ever sales figures for the first half of the financial year. It attributed its astounding results to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as the continued growth of Lotto. The positive results come as Camelot defends its position during the final stages of the competition for the next National Lottery license.
Camelot has attributed its record sales in part to the success of GB athletes at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. ©Anthony/Pexels
Lotto Growth
Camelot UK has announced that its latest results for the first half of the financial year have broken its previous records. The lottery operator recorded ticket sales of £3,961.4 million for the first six months of the 2021/22 financial year, beginning on April 1st. That figure marked a +2.7% increase on the same period last year, of around £107.3 million more.
Revealing the results, the operator explained that there were a number of factors responsible for the positive figures. One major factor was a strong draw-based games performance. Lotto, the National Lottery’s most popular game, is now in its third year of successive growth. The results are good news for the operator, which is competing to retain the National Lottery license.
The recovery of retail following the pandemic’s national lockdowns has also had a positive impact on Camelot’s results. After being postponed for a year, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were finally able to go ahead, although numerous restrictions were still in place. The National Lottery benefitted from a positive brand connection with the games, which helped to boost its sales.
As part of its biggest ever brand campaign, the National Lottery showed its support for TeamGB and ParalympicsGB. Adverts which aired across TV, radio and digital platforms highlighted the National Lottery’s contribution of a portion of all of its sales towards the UK athletes competing in Tokyo.
The campaign marketed participating in the Lottery’s games as a way of supporting Great Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes. Announcing Camelot’s record first-half results, Chairman Sir Hugh Robertson spoke about the impact that the campaign had on the operator’s sales. According to Robertson:
“A key strand of activity over the half year was The National Lottery’s largest-ever brand campaign for Tokyo 2020 – a summer-long programme that reminded players that, every time they play a National Lottery game, they directly support Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes.”
Robertson went on to add that Camelot reiterated its connection with the Games by holding two National Lottery Homecoming events at Wembley Arena for athletes. The events were given primetime broadcasting on BBC One and Channel 4. National Lottery players were given the opportunity to welcome home their favorite sporting heroes.
Good Causes Contributions Rise
Camelot’s newly published figures show that while Lotto was a key driver for growth, sales were up across the board. It reported a strong retail recovery, as in-store sales grew by +4.5%. There was also good news for its Good Causes returns, which have now reached more than £45 billion.
The amount of money generated for Good Causes by ticket sales grew by +6.5%, driven by strong games growth. Unclaimed prizes were down by -59.1% year on year. Prizes which are not claimed during an allotted timeframe are usually handed over to Good Causes.
In all, the National Lottery managed to raise a total of £884.5 million for Good Causes during the first half of the financial year. This was up by +2.4% on the total of £863.7 million raised during the same period last year. Its overall £45 billion contribution to Good Causes is 65% more than was forecast at the time of the National Lottery’s launch in 1994.
During the six months following April 2021, the National Lottery awarded £2,274.5 million in prize money to players, up £30.6 million. In doing so, it created 184 new millionaires. In October, Cambridge mum Holly Saul was lucky enough to win the £1M EuroMillions prize. Meanwhile, a 53-strong syndicate from Swansea’s Morriston Hospital shared their £118,044 EuroMillions win.
In accordance with the terms of its license, Camelot’s profits will equate to around 1% of its sales. A further 4% was spent on operating costs, with the remaining 95% of all sales revenue returned to winners and society. CEO of Camelot, Nigel Railton, was pleased to announce Camelot’s record sales for the period, stating:
“With National Lottery sales up across the board and very high levels of public participation, we’ve once again proved that our strategy of offering great consumer choice in a safe and convenient way continues to deliver vital contributions to Good Causes across the UK.”
Fewer Rollovers Than Usual
Camelot cited growing sales of its draw-based games as the main driver behind the National Lottery’s sales increase. These grew by +3.6% to £2,228.1 million, an increase of £78.7 million on the previous year. Growth was visible across the lottery’s varied portfolio of draw games, which offers a range of prizes and price points.
The range of products on offer helped to balance the National Lottery’s performance during the first half of the year. There were far fewer rollovers than normal which caused a drag on sales, however “Must Be Won” draws helped to drive participation. These draws are continuing to grow in popularity, as players enjoy the “Rolldown” feature.
This feature means that if the jackpot is not won outright, it is shared amongst all prize winners. “Rolldown” draws typically boost cash prizes for more than a million players. More than 20 million tickets have won £5 for matching two numbers thanks to the feature, which was brought in just over a year ago.
“Set For Life” is also exceeding expectations, as its top prize offers £10,000 a month for thirty years. Scratchcards and Instant Win Games grew by £28.6 million to £1,733.3 million. The lifting of coronavirus restrictions caused in-store Scratchcard sales to rise by +6.87%, while sales of online Instant Win Games fell by -8.8%.
Retail is still the National Lottery’s largest sales channel, and in-store sales have grown by 4.5% to £2,337.5 million. Camelot works with around 44,000 retailers up and down the UK to offer its National Lottery products. During the first half of the year, it completed rollouts at Aldi and Iceland stores, to offer tickets for its draw-based games at 1,900 more shops.
Camelot also experienced growth in its digital innovations, as it marked record online sales of £1,623.9 million. It was a modest +0.2% increase of £4.6 million on the previous year, which saw a huge uplift of 39.1% due to the lockdowns. Mobile sales grew to an all-time high of £1,150 million, reflecting the trend towards mobile shopping.
