Camelot responds angrily to new survey claiming lottery in decline
Friday 20th August 2004
UK National Lottery operator, Camelot, has condemned a report published yesterday by a media analyst group that the public is becoming ‘bored’ with the lottery. Mintel’s study reported that the percentage of Britons playing the main Saturday night draw has dropped to 63% from 76% in 1999, compared with a 1% fall in sport betting, and 2% in fruit and quiz machine use, over the same period.
Mark Brechin, a leisure analyst at Mintel, told the independent newspaper today that: 'The introduction of new (lottery) games has failed to sustain long-term interest. The biggest problem seems to be 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.'
He added that Camelot, whose contract runs out in 2009, is in a ‘precarious situation’.
Camelot has hit back, however, rubbishing the report as ‘spin, filled with glaring inaccuracies’. It claims the figure of lottery players has not dropped but stayed level at around 70% for years. It also claims that the average spend of its customers is £2.66 and not the £1 suggested by Mintel.
A Camelot spokesman said: 'It is a great pity that Mintel has chosen to 'spin' a report that contains quite so many inaccuracies and contradictions, especially when the National Lottery is enjoying its longest period of growth for seven years.'
