Sarah Gardner, Acting Chief Executive of the UK Gambling Commission, has backed Allwyn’s rollout of its new Powerball offering.
In a speech during the Allwyn Participant Protection Conference, Gardner took to the stage to assess Allwyn’s work so far as the fourth National Lottery operator three years into its 10-year licence.
She made sure to commemorate the investment for modernisation that Allwyn has so far put into the lottery, calling it “the largest tech update in the lottery’s history”.
“It was about far more than making sure the tech that supports The National Lottery was upgraded, as important as that was,” Gardner said. “It was the key gateway to the innovation of products that Allwyn wanted to begin.”
The Commission’s CEO also referenced the Powerball product that was rolled out by Allwyn UK earlier in June. Gardner added that the gambling authority has welcomed it as “a clear sign of Allwyn’s ambition to innovate in order to raise Returns to Good Causes”.
Gardner’s Good Causes comment is particularly interesting given the ongoing consultation by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to prohibit betting firms from taking bets on the Powerball.
With the consultation open until 4 November, the DCMS is seeking to build Allwyn’s Powerball into an exclusive National Lottery product status, proposing a change in legislation to amend this.
Vicky Foxcroft, Undersecretary of State at the DCMS, commented: “This will aim to remove risks of customer confusion for players, and ensure National Lottery good causes are maximised.”
Gardner’s latest comments have now served as clear evidence that the Commission’s view of Allwyn’s and the Powerball’s importance to Good Causes is closely aligned with the official DCMS position.
