Lottoland to threaten Tatts' Australia lottery monopoly?

Wednesday 13th of January 2016

Tatts may see its near total lottery monopoly threatened by Gibraltar-based online lottery betting operator, Lottoland, local media reports.

Lottoland has been making headlines in the last few days, after it was announced that the massive $1.5 billion Powerball Jackpot was open to Australians, made possible as a result of a five-year wagering licence granted to the company by the Northern Territory Government.

"Australia's lotteries industry is ripe for a revolution," Lottoland Australian chief executive Luke Brill was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald. "We're doing a similar thing to the lotteries industry like Uber is doing to the taxi industry. It's a disruptive product." he continued.

Currently, Tatts operates every state lottery apart from Western Australia, which is still run by the state government. It earned more than $2 billion in revenue in 2015 from its lotteries division.

However, Tatts is likely to present challenges to the new kid on the block, CLSA gaming analyst Sacha Krien says. "We expect Tatts to challenge Lottoland's use of any existing trademarks, as well as any copyright associated with their lottery products”. "Alternatively, Tatts and the states could seek federal legislation on lotteries, overriding Northern Territory law."

Until now, Australians have not been able to tap into global lottery pools, making Lottoland’s offering Australia’s first.

Earlier this week, Australians crashed the Lottoland website in attempts to place a wager on the massive Powerball Jackpot, according to local media.

"We've struck it lucky by launching this week [with the powerball] and we are hopeful those customers will stay with us and look at Australian products.", Brill commented.