SEARCH NEWS:

 

Branson Closing In On Britian's National Lottery

"…The Lottery Commission's shock announcement that neither of the contenders' bids could be accepted in its present state could only have increased Branson's mounting frustration at the hoops he has had to jump through to prove he is the man to run the lottery.

"Now he has just one month to satisfy the Lottery Commission that The People's Lottery, his not-for-profit bid to win the licence, could provide refunds to players if any draw were voided. If he cannot, he will probably not be given a third chance.

"What was to become Branson's obsession with the lottery began entirely by chance on a visit to friends Rob and Anna Wilson-Wright in Ireland in the early 1980s. Branson looked out of the car window and saw a new sports centre in what was otherwise a poor rural area.

"`How could they afford that?' he asked. The answer was that the money had come from the recently launched Irish National Lottery, run by the Irish Government.

"An idea was born. The young entrepreneur was immediately enthused, partly because he ran a small healthcare foundation that was inundated with requests for money. Branson knew that the need for charitable funds was potentially limitless and here was an exciting, painless way to do something about it.

"…It was simple. Richard Branson, the man who had built his reputation on making the impossible possible, wanted to set up a British national lottery. A little work was done by officials but the idea ran into a brick wall in the shape of Margaret Thatcher.

"…Branson returned to the fray in the summer of 1993 when John Major's Lottery Bill was going through Parliament. But he was late - the last of eight bidders into the contest - and could only sweep up those suppliers and advisers who had not been signed up already by powerful consortia attracted by the prospect of lottery profits.

"…His bid was sunk largely as a result of his own hubris. He had decided that the profits would go not to the official good causes but to charities of his own choosing. It was a well-meant gesture designed to compensate small charities that might suffer because of the national lottery. But Branson was warned that this would not meet the terms of the legislation.

"….Six years later, though, everything has changed. For one thing, Branson has had to battle it out with just one other contender - Camelot.

"…The People's Lottery… picked away at the Camelot weakness by carrying out research that showed Camelot was facing a downward spiral. Twenty per cent of those who had ceased to play the National Lottery had given up in the previous six months.

"…At the time, Branson said: `The lottery is stale. It is faceless. It is tired. It needs a change. We believe our time has come. The People's Lottery will create more rollovers, bigger jackpots, more millionaires and better chances of becoming one.'

"…Yesterday was a day of restrained celebration for Branson and his team. Lottery professionals see him as the underdog in the fight and agree that, by making The People's Lottery its choice - albeit a qualified one - the Lottery Commissioners have made the "courageous" rather than the safe choice…"

< Gaming News