Ah, the appeal of the “what ifs” in life.
What if we actually won the jackpot? What would we spend the money on? Maybe buying a private jet or a private island, or maybe moving to a holiday home in Hawaii?
All of these dreams are evoked thanks to the chances, albeit the slim chances, handed to us by playing the lottery. We know the chances of winning big aren’t huge, but there’s enough of an opportunity there to keep us excited on an ongoing basis. Advances in technology have brought growth in the lottery sector, with new options for getting involved helping to appeal to new swathes of the Irish population. But what are these new options available to us, and what is their appeal?
A New Lotto Landscape
10 years ago, it was normal practice to pop down to the newsagents to buy a ticket. This was the accepted method for getting involved with lotteries, but one that has since been challenged by the growth of digital operators like Lottoland.
Since being granted a Remote Gambling Licence in Ireland in 2016, Lottoland have proved that giving yourself the opportunity to win big isn’t as black and white as you might have imagined. Lottoland allows users in Ireland and further afield to bet on the outcome of any given lottery, and the good news is that players aren't restricted to the Irish Lotto: you can bet on lotteries in Spain, the US Powerball draw, the Euromillions draw, and many others.
Are New Operators A Threat To Traditional Lotteries?
With Lottoland, when you win, you are paid courtesy of the operator’s insurance policy. This allows them to offer players cheaper tickets because they aren't lumbered with the overheads of running an actual lottery. They can also afford to offer consumers, for instance, free attempts on the Euromillions draw, or just straightforward discounted ticket costs.
Is this sort of lottery betting model a threat to traditional lotteries, though? Users of the likes of Lottoland are, on the whole, very happy with the service they receive, with reputable review sites like Trustplay showing that players are satisfied with the service and process of payout. There is a growing impression that traditional lotteries, by comparison, are less innovative, offer a reduced choice for players, and obviously regular ticket price rises are also a consideration.
That said, Lottoland and other lottery operators do a lot to raise awareness of some of the lotteries that people may not know about, such as Spain’s charming annual El Gordo tradition.
Whether this new form of iGaming ends up overtaking traditional lotteries remains to be seen. What can be agreed upon, though, is that it is the consumer who will end up benefiting in the long-term from the competition resulting between old and new.
