Lottoland is a Gibraltar-based gaming outfit that’s dead set on disrupting world lottery markets. But judging by the fights they’ve had trying to stay in the Australian market, it’s pretty clear that local and federal governments don’t have much interest in seeing their lottery markets disrupted.
Last year, at the behest of Australian news peddler (who also sell lottery tickets) the Australian government issued a blanket ban on synthetic lotteries. That put a major dent in Lottoland’s core business of running lottery draws based on the outcome of other international lottery draws. (That business model did not sit well with Australian news peddlers, who currently have a monopoly on lottery ticket sales and have plenty of pull with local politicians.)
In an effort to both comply with the law and save its business, Lottoland shifted to lottery draws that are based on the outcome of international financial markets – much the way traditional numbers rackets worked during the 20th Century. But even that idea is being challenged by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), which has determined the new lottery draws to be games of chance.
This legal argument is not sitting well with Lottoland Australia chief executive Luke Brill who is taking the ACMA to court on the matter. He told the Sydney Morning Herald, “We have worked hard to adapt to recent changes to the law, and we are committed to providing exciting new products that our customers love. By taking this stand against ACMA, we are fighting for the rights of hundreds of thousands of Australians who enjoy the occasional flutter. We are fighting for freedom of choice.”
There’s no word on how the ACMA feels about the fight as they do not comment on pending legal matters.