NT Government Bans Lottoland from Accepting bets on Australian-based lotteries

Lotto

Lottoland will be banned from accepting bets on Australian-based lotteries amid sweeping changes to its licensing agreement.

The Northern Territory Government on Tuesday night caved to a fierce campaign from Australian local newsagents and lotto outlets to restrict the Gibraltar-based gambling website’s terms of registration.

The Andrews government, as well as New South Wales, Tasmania and the West Australian state governments have moved to ban the website, blaming massive drops in gambling revenue on its presence in the local market.

NT Attorney-General Natasha Fyles said she had directed the Northern Territory Racing Commission to ban NT licensed bookmakers from accepting bets on the outcomes of Australian-based lotteries.

Lottoland, which has more than 600,000 registered users in Australia, accepts on the results of more than 30 different lottery draws, including the US’ Powerball, the EuroMillions and Spanish Christmas Lottery, El Gordo.

Lottoland chief executive Luke Brill said the company respected the decision and would work with the government to implement the necessary changes to its business model.

But Mr Brill downplayed those effects, noting the company’s customers preferred betting on overseas lotteries, which would be unaffected by the change.

“Importantly, there are no restrictions on our international products, meaning our customers can continue to bet on the outcome of overseas lotteries,” he said. “Overseas lotteries are the preferred betting option among our customers as they offer larger jackpots.”

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