Camelot UK, the licensed operator of the UK National Lottery, was asked to explain why it has put in advertisements in The House, Parliamentary magazine, to promote its business.

Camelot Asked to Explain Its Advertisements in the House

The official licensed operator of the UK National Lottery, Camelot UK, was asked to explain why it has put advertisements to promote its business in the Parliamentary magazine, The House.

MPs Richard Holden and Carolyn Harris of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling Related Harm (APPG) raised their concerns in a letter to the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).

They said that the promotion conflicted with the operator’s official duty operating the National Lottery. According to the lottery and its funding for charity should be the operator’s only focus.

According to the letter the MPs sent, it is not clear how this campaign in the parliamentary magazine helps promote the National Lottery to increase funding for good causes. They stated that in the advertisements, Camelot’s branding comes before the National Lottery, promoting the operator’s recent collaboration with ITV and Daily Mail.

At the end of last year, Camelot and ITV inked sponsorship agreement. The National Lottery operator sponsors ITV’s most popular Saturday night shows, The Voice UK, The Masked Singer, and Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. The collaboration came when the UK government announced the launch of its review of the Gambling Act.

Camelot Accused of Trying to Secure Its Position

According to the letter, while the government reviews the Fourth National Lottery contract, Camelot targets MPs to promote and secure its current position. According to the letter, there is a chance that Camelot will secure a license for a fourth year by “misleading audiences as its role to good causes.”

The MPs who sent the letter fear that, in the future, no credible bidders will compete for the position. Two firms are eligible to compete for the multi-billion pound contract: Sazka Group, a Czech gambling conglomerate, and Sugal & Damani, an Indian lottery operator. The two companies completed the questionnaires and are allowed to bid to win.

Sazka Group has hired Brent Hoberman, the co-founder of lasminute.com, to advise the company’s bidding team during the bid for the National Lottery of the UK. According to him, with its innovative technology, the industry’s leader, Sazka Group, will bring the National Lottery to the 21st century, which is how other lotteries already operate worldwide.