A refresh of the National Lottery has been delayed for a second time, resulting in the incumbent Camelot’s contract being extended for six months.
The Gambling Commission said that a preferred applicant was unlikely to be revealed until February at the earliest as it added at least ten weeks to the UK’s fourth lottery licence competition.
The regulator, which is running the bidding contest, said that it had acted on representations from contenders and experience from the first stage of the process.
Applicants had been due to present their final bids next month, with the preferred bidder also being revealed in September. However, the commission said that several applicants had asked for more time to prepare their submissions.
Final submissions will be accepted by October 15 and the licence, lasting ten years, will be handed over in February 2024, instead of the previously announced August 2023.
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The Canadian-owned Camelot has held the licence since the National Lottery’s inception in 1994. Its present licence is its third. Camelot’s rivals in the bid include Sazka, the Czech lottery group, Richard Desmond, the former Daily Express newspaper owner, and Sisal, the Italian gaming group.
