The Irish National Lottery has revealed that bookmakers’ lottery-betting products diverted an estimated €289 million of potential ticket sales in 2024, leading to a significant reduction in funding for good causes.
Published on Tuesday, the report suggested that this diversion has decreased contributions to good causes by approximately €81 million. The results prompted calls for urgent government intervention to regulate or ban the secondary lottery betting market.
The report was undertaken by Indecon International Economic and Strategic Consultants and commissioned by the Irish National Lottery.
The Gambling Regulation Act 2024 established a Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland to oversee betting, gaming, and private lotteries, excluding the Irish National Lottery.
It assessed both the economic contribution of the official Lottery and the consequences of lottery betting. It examined lottery sales, prize payouts, good causes funding, retail impacts, employment, tax revenues and the emerging effect of betting on Irish National Lottery outcomes by commercial bookmakers from 2018 through 2024.
Total Irish National Lottery sales rose to €855.7 million in 2024, up from €805.0 million in 2018, with cumulative sales exceeding €6.2 billion over the period. Sales peaked in 2021 at €1.054 billion. Online and digital channels accounted for 18.1% of total sales in 2024, more than doubling since 2018’s 7.7%.
The impact assessment also estimated the lottery’s total contribution to the Irish economy at approximately €2.1 billion in 2024.
Players, meanwhile, received €487.6 million in prizes in 2024 alone, with lifetime payouts since 1987 totalling €12.3 billion. Prize payouts represented 57.0% of sales in 2024, above the statutory minimum of 50%.
On the retail side, the lottery had 5,166 retail agents in 2024, down from 5,842 in 2018. Commissions paid to retailers reached €44 million in 2024 and totalled €337.1 million from 2018-24. Sales of other retail products associated with lottery outlets supported an estimated additional €389.9 million in non-lottery retail spending in 2024.
Benefit for the beneficiaries
When looking at beneficiary organisations, €239.3 million was received in 2024. Since inception, Irish National Lottery players have generated an estimated €6.9 billion in funding for good causes, supporting sectors such as sport, arts, heritage, youth, health and community initiatives.
Tax receipts attributable to lottery-supported activities, including income tax and VAT, were estimated at €84.6 million in 2024. Combining consumption impacts, prize spending and good causes funding, the lottery supported an estimated €15.1 billion of economic output over the 2018–24 period.
An Indecon survey of 186 beneficiary groups indicated that lottery funding made up 20% of their annual funding on average.
Notably, 13% said they could not operate at all without this funding. In addition, 46% reported they would have to operate at a significantly reduced level without it. The report also estimated that the lottery supports approximately 184,775 volunteers nationally, valuing this volunteering contribution at around €141.3 million in 2025.
Using a central behavioural spending model, Indecon calculated that the spending of lottery prizes generated an economic impact of €554.5 million throughout the economy in 2024. When combined with net consumer spending on lottery products (sales minus prizes) and retail uplift, the total estimated consumption impact reached €1.699 billion.
The threat of bookmaker ‘lottery betting’
A key concern highlighted in the report is the growing practice of “lottery betting” by commercial bookmakers. This is where customers bet on Irish National Lottery draw outcomes rather than purchasing official lottery tickets. Unlike official lottery sales, funds from these betting activities are not remitted to good causes. Nor do bookmakers act as retail agents receiving commissions.
Market estimates from research firm Red C put bookmakers’ lottery betting turnover at about €828 million in 2025.
Indecon’s modelling suggested that 35% of lottery betting customers would have otherwise played the Irish National Lottery directly, translating to an estimated €289 million in lost potential Irish National Lottery sales. Applying the retail share, this equates to an estimated €238 million reduction in retail lottery sales for 2024.
The report estimated lost good causes funding due to bookmaker lottery betting at approximately €81 million in 2024. There was an average annual loss of €63 million between 2021–24.
Employment linked to the Irish National Lottery, including retail and beneficiary sectors, was estimated to have declined by around 1,929 jobs in 2024 as a result of bookmaker lottery betting.
Regarding the licence value, Indecon estimated that the diversion of National Lottery revenues to betting operators has eroded the market value of the Irish National Lottery licence. This figure was estimated at between €118 million and €148 million (using revenue multiples).
Indecon and PLI highlight a regulatory gap whereby bookmakers may offer bets on Irish National Lottery results without contributing to good causes. This differs from regulatory frameworks in the UK, where betting on national lottery outcomes is banned under the UK’s Gambling Act 2005.
‘Move now to ban lottery betting’
Cian Murphy, chief executive of the Irish National Lottery, called on the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (DPER) to act swiftly to protect the Lottery.
“As the holder of the operating licence, we have a responsibility to protect the National Lottery’s long-term value,” he said.
“Given the scale of these impacts, we have no option but to request relevant action by the Government on the issue in the interests of preserving the current levels of funding for good causes.”
The Lottery’s plea is supported by retail and charity sector representatives, who emphasised market fairness and the public interest.
“It is important that the Government acts now to protect good causes funding and to prevent the National Lottery being increasingly undermined by lottery betting,” said Tara Buckley, director general of the Retail Grocery Dairy & Allied Trades Association (RGDATA). “Ireland should stop being an outlier in Europe and move now to ban lottery betting.”
Ireland exhibits relatively high rates of gambling participation, with lifetime engagement estimated at 64.5%. Approximately 3.3% of the population fall into the high-risk gambling category. Men aged 25-34 were identified as having the highest levels of risky gambling behaviour (1.3%). This was compared to 0.2% among women in the same age group.
Kathryn Evans
Kathryn covers bitesize breaking news with a primary focus on EMEA and US legislation. A proud North Walian, fluent Welsh speaker and lifelong Wrexham FC fan – long before Hollywood came calling.
Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/lottery/good-causes-miss-out-on-81m-due-to-lottery-betting-in-ireland/
