Australian Government and Lottery Vendors Take Aim at Lottoland

Lottoland is under attack in Australia. All across the Land Down Under, gambling operators and governmental entities are mounting a fierce resistance to the company’s unique business model that allows players to bet on the outcome of local and international lotteries.
In Queensland, South Australia, and Victoria, local governments are working feverishly to scale back Lottoland’s operations in their jurisdictions. All three territories are working to stop Lottoland dead in its tracks because, in their view, the company is benefiting from established state lotteries, but not putting anything back into the system (and by that, they mean that Lottoland is not taxed like a traditional lottery).
That resistance has had real impact on Lottoland in South Australia where the company is already barred from doing business. According to a report on CalvinAyre.com, Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia are considering similar prohibitions. After all, there’s plenty of revenue at stake here. The government of Victoria believes that Lottoland’s operation is costing the government more than $90 million in lost lottery revenue.
Governments, it turns out, are not the only Australian entities that have Lottoland in their sites. Traditional lottery operators like the Tatts Group, along with newspaper/lottery vendors (represented by the Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association) are mounting their own attack on Lottoland.
Over the weekend, the two groups launched a campaign titled, “Lottoland’s Gotta Go!.” The campaign, which is supported by posters which are to be set at news vendors, is designed to inform consumers that Lottoland sales do not support local entities like schools and parks.
For its part, Lottoland says it’s not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes and that it takes pains to let its customers know that it is not a traditional lottery operator.