National Lottery license holder Camelot is set to be granted a six-month extension to its current lottery contract as regulators look to temporarily suspend the auction for the rights to run the contest.
As reported by The Telegraph, Nigel Railton, Camelot’s chief executive, expects the decision to extend Camelot’s license to be formally announced by the Gambling Commission in the coming weeks
A Gambling Commission spokesman said: “The extended timetable is designed to enable potential applicants to make adequate preparations for a fair, open and robust competition.”
The six month rights extension is now the latest stall in the search for the competition’s new license holder following on from a two-month delay in the bidding process back in February.
Running the National Lottery since its inception in 1994, Camelot’s decision is expected to anger its rivals which includes Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Czech firm Sazka, owned by energy billionaire Karel Komarek, among others keen to take over the contests reigns.
A spokesperson for Sazka stated: “We continue to review the draft invitation to apply issued by the Gambling Commission to determine our response and are monitoring the situation closely.”
Former owner of the Express newspapers and media mogul Richard Desmond is also among those who have expressed an interest in taking over from Camelot in 2023, with the search for the National Lottery’s next operator now coming close to hitting the year mark.