UKGC Under Siege as Billionaire Porn Baron Joins National Lottery Legal Action

The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) have come under fire for their decision to award the National Lottery to a Czech company, with billionaire former-porn baron Richard Desmond the latest to launch a legal action against the gambling regulators...

Two of Desmond’s companies, Northern & Shell and New Lottery Company, filed the joint legal action in the high court last week, apparently objecting to the secrecy that shrouded the decision to favour Czech-owned Allwyn Entertainment over three other bidders.

Camelot, who have held the licence to run the UK’s biggest lottery for 27 years, have already launched their own legal action, claiming “we firmly believe that the Gambling Commission has got this decision badly wrong.”

Media mogul Desmond was once the most prolific pornography publisher in the UK, his Northern & Shell company once owning the rights to Penthouse and publishing 45 other pornographic titles.

The company currently owns the Health Lottery, and was an anonymous bidder for the 10-year UK national lottery licence, which is set to run from 2024 when Camelot’s licence runs out.

With annual revenues of £8billion, the UK National Lottery is one of the most sought-after government contracts, and this latest has been hotly contested since it was announced in 2020.

Although details of the most recent legal challenge by Desmond’s companies have yet to be revealed, it is likely they will mirror at least one of Camelot’s complaints – a procurement challenge claiming a breach of rules during the bidding process. Camelot’s tech provider, International Game Technology (IGT) has also launched a legal action.

A fourth bidder, Sisal – bought over by Paddy Power-owners Flutter during the bidding process – is also considering joining the legal challenge.

The UKGC has so far declined to comment on the Northern & Shell/The New Lottery action, although they responded to Camelot’s earlier this month.

They stated:

“The competition and our evaluation have been carried out fairly and lawfully in accordance with our statutory duties, and we are confident that a court would come to that conclusion.”