UK Moves to Ban Betting on the National Lottery's Powerball, Closing a Loophole Two Months After Launch

The government wants to stop licensed operators taking bets on Powerball draws now that the US game is sold as a National Lottery product. It is the EuroMillions ban of 2018 again, and the consultation runs until 4 November.

• The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has opened a six-week consultation on prohibiting licensed operators from offering bets on the outcome of Powerball draws to customers in Great Britain
• Section 95 of the Gambling Act 2005 bars betting on National Lottery games, but it does not cover Powerball because the underlying US draw is not part of the National Lottery, even though Allwyn has sold the game in the UK since 21 July
• The government proposes a new licence condition under section 78 for general betting, pool betting and betting intermediary licences, the route it used to ban EuroMillions betting in 2018
• Minister Vicky Foxcroft cites customer confusion and the extra £1 billion that Allwyn expects Powerball to raise for good causes over five years
• No operator is named, no impact assessment has been published, and the consultation asks businesses how much of their revenue Powerball betting provides; it closes at 23:59 on 4 November

A Loophole Created by Bringing Powerball to Britain

The consultation, published by DCMS on 23 September, proposes to "prohibit licensed operators in Great Britain from offering third party bets on the National Lottery's Powerball game draws", in the words of the ministerial foreword by Vicky Foxcroft, the minister responsible for gambling. It runs for six weeks and closes at 23:59 on Wednesday 4 November.

The problem is one of the government's own making. Section 95 of the Gambling Act 2005 prevents betting operators from taking bets on "a lottery which forms part of the National Lottery", which is why betting on Lotto, EuroMillions and Thunderball is already barred. Powerball, which Allwyn UK added to the National Lottery portfolio on 21 July, is not caught, because the draw it is based on is the US one. According to the consultation, "a small number of gambling operators have for some time offered bets to UK customers on the outcome of the Powerball draw in the US". Those bets were on an overseas lottery until July; now they are bets on a game the National Lottery also sells.

UK Powerball costs £4 a line, against $2 in the US, and is drawn in Florida at about 4am UK time three times a week, according to Allwyn and the Multi-State Lottery Association. UK tickets contribute to the shared jackpot pool, which is uncapped and paid in the UK as an annuity over 30 years.

The EuroMillions Precedent

The mechanism is the one used for EuroMillions. In 2018, regulations made under sections 78 and 355 of the Act attached a condition to betting licences barring bets on "a EuroMillions draw, or ... the outcome of a EuroMillions lottery, regardless of the name given to that lottery". DCMS now proposes a general condition, again under section 78(1), for general betting, pool betting and betting intermediary licences. Bets on other non-National Lottery draws, such as the Irish Lotto, would remain lawful. No draft regulations have been published.

The government's case rests on three points: customer confusion, the effect on good causes and consistency with other National Lottery games. The consultation notes that betting products "are frequently sold below the retail price of an official ticket" and that operators "are able to market products based on Powerball's 'life-changing' jackpot amounts without the requirement to allocate proceeds to charitable initiatives". Roughly 23% of National Lottery sales go to good causes, about £1.8 billion a year, and Allwyn expects Powerball to add £1 billion over five years. Foxcroft wrote that betting on the draws "is contrary to the spirit and intention of Section 95". DCMS considered and rejected voluntary measures, a requirement for operators to donate to good causes, and a ban on all lottery betting.

The Government Is Asking for the Evidence After Choosing the Answer

The consultation is candid that it lacks data. It has no impact assessment and asks respondents what share of their gross gambling yield comes from Powerball betting, what switching would cost and how many bettors would move to buying tickets, noting "the lack of up to date evidence". That is an unusual order of work for a licence condition, but it reflects the stakes: the product is new, the operators affected are few, and the precedent is settled. The EuroMillions ban was preceded by a 2014 call for evidence and took four years; this one is arriving within two months of launch. The government's judgement is that the principle has already been decided in law, and that only the scope needs consulting on.

The Real Beneficiary Is Allwyn's Growth Plan

Allwyn is aiming to double good-cause funding to £60 million a week by the end of its licence in 2034, and Powerball is one of the few new products that can move that number. A cheaper betting alternative on the same draw would compete directly with a £4 ticket. Protecting that product is also protecting the National Lottery's commercial case at a sensitive time for its operator, whose UK leadership has changed since Andria Vidler stepped down in August. For the lottery-betting firms, the argument that the ban is disproportionate will be hard to sustain when the government is copying a rule the market has lived with since 2018. Their stronger ground is the timing: a product they have offered legally for years is being restricted only because the National Lottery chose to sell it.

The consultation is framed as a question, but the answer is already in the foreword. Operators that take Powerball bets from British customers should plan for the condition, and the only open issue is how quickly it arrives.