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What is Wheel Of Happiness?
The National Lottery registered ticket sales of £7.9 billion, up 0.9%, while prize payouts slightly decreased by 0.6% to £4.5 billion. Contributions to good causes increased by 2.8%, estimated between £1.6 billion and £1.7 billion.
Large society lotteries also experienced growth with ticket sales up 5.7% (£1.2 billion), prizes up 6.1% (£335.6 million) and contributions up 2.8% (£498.5 million).
The Commission’s annual Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), released on Thursday, indicated stable gambling participation patterns among 5,277 adults surveyed between January and May 2026.
What is Wheel Of Happiness?
Betfred’s retail business still heavily depends on fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) and in-shop gambling. Despite the maximum stake limit being cut to £2 in 2019, FOBTs account for roughly half of Betfred’s shop profits. Done emphasised that without these machines, retail betting wass “impossible”.
According to Done, such a tax rise would lead Betfred to close 495 of its shops within a year, resulting in the loss of 2,575 jobs and roughly £67 million in foregone tax revenue for the Exchequer.
Betfred has already shuttered 132 outlets this year, following last year’s RGD increase.
About Wheel Of Happiness
The group is expected to have an addressable market of up to €34 billion when combining all its available markets, including Portugal, Mexico and Colombia.
Lottomatica’s online and omnichannel capabilities are expected to accelerate Cirsa’s expansion in online gaming.
Lottomatica chairman and CEO Guglielmo Angelozzi noted the combination would create a more diversified business with significant opportunities for growth.
