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The Illinois Lottery days in Camelot are over. Specifically, the state lottery’s operator, Camelot Illinois, was renamed Allwyn North America after Swiss-based Allwyn AG acquired Camelot earlier this year.
The Illinois Lottery is Allwyn’s first foray into US lottery management after building momentum as a lottery manager in the UK. With Illinois operations under its international umbrella, Chief Executive Wayne Pickup said in an Allwyn North America press release:
“As the private manager of the Illinois Lottery, we work closely with the Department of Lottery to drive responsible and sustainable growth to maximize revenue for the State of Illinois. Utilizing the resources, expertise and talent across the Allwyn group will only strengthen the results we help our customers achieve.”
Allwyn steering the ship in an expansive lottery market
Allwyan’s management of the Illinois Lottery is no small task. It oversees a lottery that 67% of Illinois residents play and that processes around 1.6 million mobile ticket scans each week.
Additionally, Illinois leads the nation in online lottery sales of draw games. The state lottery system offers seven draw games:
- Powerball: Multi-state game with a history of $1 billion jackpots
- Mega Millions with Megaplier: Another popular multi-state game with jackpots that have exceeded $1 billion
- Lotto with Extra Shot: An Illinois-only game with jackpots starting at $2 million
- Lucky Day Lotto with EXmatch: A game that draws two times a day with jackpots that start at $100,000
- Pick 3 Plus Fireball: Drawn twice daily, it offers jackpots of up to $500
- Pick 4 Plus Fireball: A four-number game drawn twice a day with jackpots of up to $5,000
- Fast Play: A progressive-style game with a jackpot that grows as more tickets are purchased
The Illinois lottery also offers a variety of scratch-off games that range in denominations of $1 to $50.
The state uses roughly 25% of draw and scratch-off purchases to fund the state’s public education system and other causes. From June 2021 to June 2022, the lottery raised more than $830 million for the state.
“Allwyn’s goal is to build better lotteries and help them raise more for good causes, through innovation, technology, efficiency and safety in our quest for enhanced player engagement,” Allwyn Group CEO Robert Chvatal said.
“We are passionate about the lottery business, delivering value to our customers, and growing lottery returns to communities.”
What’s ahead for Allwyn North America?
To know what might be ahead for Allwyn, you have to look at its recent history.
In January, the company got the regulatory green light in the UK to acquire Camelot UK Lotteries Limited. In doing so, it added the United Kingdom’s National Lottery to its portfolio.
Then, in March, the company completed its Camelot acquisition, noting that it would be business as usual for Camelot’s business partners.
Allwyn’s Camelot purchase opened the door to two considerable lottery markets: the UK and Illinois. And it doesn’t plan to stop there, according to the company’s press release.
“Allwyn plans to further investment in the North American market,” the company said, pointing out it has already made Chicago its headquarters for its North American growth.
