Superdraw Announcement

Background
The licensee is prohibited from making any announcement or other public disclosure unless it has approval from the Commission as to the timing, guarantee and amount of any Superdraw.

Condition
Paragraph 5(2) of Schedule 4 of the Lotto Section 6 Licence

Description
An article in ‘Retailer Newsagent’ featured an interview with Camelot’s Commercial and Operations Director, Phil Smith.  Notwithstanding that the original interview provided to the magazine contained the caveat that the Superdraws were “subject to the usual NLC approval”, the published article contained a statement that “coming up” are “£15m guaranteed jackpot Superdraws on 25 June, 9 July and 23 July leading to the 1000^th^ draw.”  At the time the article was printed the Commission had not approved the timing or funding of Lotto Superdraws for the relevant financial year.

Regulatory Action
The Commission wrote to Camelot and considered its response.  The Commission decided that there had been a contravention of licence requirements.  A licence breach was recorded on 17 June 2005.

*Outcome*                
The incident has served to remind Camelot of the need for careful planning in determining how and when to publicise Superdraws.