Greece’s national investment fund has confirmed just two bidders for the next national lottery licence, including incumbent operator OPAP, a subsidiary of Allwyn.
Growthfund, the national investment fund, confirmed that OPAP and Brightstar are the sole applications for the next 10 year lottery concession after Phase A of the tender process concluded on 23 July.
Surprisingly, local Greek firm Intralot has opted not to apply for the licence, potentially shifting its attention to international prospects like lottery tenders in the US after acquiring Bally’s International Interactive.
Given that the firm detailed a desire to break into the US lottery sector, with the vast majority of states running a lottery and therefore needing technology partners, this wouldn’t be too illogical to assume.
The next phase of the lottery tender will see the Expressions of Interests submitted by OPAP and Brightstar evaluated, after which either or both will be invited to participate in Phase B, the submission of binding offers.
With OPAP the current licence holder, both it and its parent firm Allwyn – a dominant player in global lotteries as the operator of the national lotteries of the UK, Austria, Czech Republic and other countries – will likely be very keen to hold on to the licence.
The licence in question is quite extensive, covering the Instant State Lottery, the State Housing Lottery, the Popular Lottery, the Special Social National Lottery, the National Lottery, and the Extraordinary or Special Lottery drawn by the European Association of State Lotteries (AELLE).
OPAP’s full year finances for 2024 showed an increase in both online and retail lottery operations of 2.1% year-over-year to €201.7m (€198m) in Q4 alone, with lottery operations accounting for over 33% of group-wide revenue for the full year. Lottery activity also complements the group’s activity in sports betting.
Brightstar, meanwhile, is keen to further establish itself as a primary partner to the global lottery sector after its rebranding from IGT, though it has kept hold of some key contracts from this era of corporate identity.