A recent report released by the Irish National Lottery reveals a harsh reality: commercial betting companies are systematically eroding lottery revenues originally intended for public welfare by accepting bets on lottery draw results. The socio-economic impact assessment report, compiled by Indecon International Economic and Strategic Consulting, points out that by 2024, betting products from gambling companies will have shifted approximately 289 million euros in potential lottery sales, directly resulting in a reduction of about 81 million euros in funding for public welfare causes. This figure has triggered a strong call for urgent government intervention to regulate or ban the secondary lottery betting market. Cian Murphy, CEO of the Irish National Lottery operator, stated bluntly that given the scale of the impact, we have no choice but to request the government to take action to protect the current level of funding for public welfare. Retail representatives have also joined in pressing for action, with Tara Buckley, General Secretary of the Retail Grocery Dairy and Allied Trades Association, urging Ireland not to remain an anomaly in Europe and to take immediate action to prohibit lottery betting.
From 170 million in consumer leverage to 828 million in betting transfers
The socio-economic impact assessment of the lottery on the Irish economy reveals two completely opposite parallel trajectories. Official lottery annual sales steadily climbed from 805 million euros in 2018 to 855.7 million euros in 2024, with a cumulative sales total of over 6.2 billion euros over seven years, and at one point in 2021, it exceeded 1.054 billion euros. The share of online and digital channel sales increased from 7.7% in 2018 to 18.1% in 2024. On the expenditure side, the prize money in 2024 reached 487.6 million euros, accounting for 57.0% of total sales, higher than the statutory minimum of 50%. Indecon estimates that just the prize money alone generated approximately 554.5 million euros in economic chain effects in 2024, and after adding net consumer spending and retail additional effects, the total consumption impact approached 1.7 billion euros.
In sharp contrast to the social value created by official lotteries is the betting market on lottery draw results by commercial gambling companies. Market research firm Red C estimates that in 2025, gambling companies will bet approximately 828 million euros in this area. Indecon's behavioral model shows that about 35% of lottery betting customers would otherwise choose to directly purchase official lottery tickets, resulting in a loss of about 238 million euros in retail lottery sales in 2024. Based on the proportion allocated to public welfare, this resulted in a loss of about 81 million euros in public welfare funds in 2024, with an average annual loss of about 63 million euros from 2021 to 2024. The report also quantified the impact of this shock on employment—about 1,929 jobs related to lottery retail and beneficiary sectors disappeared in 2024. From the perspective of license value, the outflow of income eroded the market value of the national lottery license by about 118 million to 148 million euros.
Regulatory vacuum and the stark contrast with the UK
Indecon and the Irish National Lottery have pointed out a key regulatory loophole—Irish commercial gambling companies are allowed to set up betting markets for domestic lottery results without contributing any funds to public welfare. This contrasts sharply with the UK, where the Gambling Act of 2005 has long prohibited betting on domestic national lottery results.
Public welfare organizations' dependence on lottery grants far exceeds external expectations. Indecon's survey of 186 beneficiary groups shows that lottery grants account for an average of 20% of their annual funds. 13% of the organizations stated they completely rely on lottery grants to maintain operations, and 46% said they would be forced to significantly reduce the scale of activities if they lost the grants. The report estimates that in 2025, about 185,000 volunteers will serve in lottery-funded projects nationwide, contributing a value of approximately 141.3 million euros. In terms of tax contributions, the income tax and value-added tax related to lottery activities in 2024 totaled about 84.6 million euros, and after combining consumption pull, prize expenditures, and public welfare funding effects, it supported approximately 15.1 billion euros in economic output from 2018 to 2024.
PASA official website continues to track global lottery industry regulatory policies and gambling product compliance dynamics, noting the huge loss of public welfare funds caused by the current regulatory vacuum in Irish lottery betting, which is becoming a typical case of regulatory imbalance in the cross-market of lottery and gambling within the EU.
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This article is from "PASA-Global iGaming Leaders" gambling industry news channel: https://t.me/pasa_news
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