The UK government has opened a six-week consultation on banning licensed betting operators in Great Britain from offering bets on Powerball draw results. Allwyn UK added the US game to the National Lottery portfolio on July 21.
The proposal would be delivered through a new Gambling Commission licence condition covering relevant betting operating licences. It would prevent those operators from selling third-party Powerball bets to consumers in Great Britain, while leaving bets on lotteries outside the National Lottery, such as the Irish Lotto, permissible.
According to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s consultation document, customers can currently either buy an official National Lottery Powerball entry or bet on the result through a third-party gambling operator. A small number of operators had offered UK customers bets on the US draw even before the National Lottery product was introduced.
The department says the arrangement falls outside the existing statutory restriction because the underlying US Powerball draw is not itself part of the original National Lottery portfolio. Section 95 of the Gambling Act 2005 already stops betting licence holders from taking bets on the outcome of National Lottery lotteries, including Lotto, Thunderball and EuroMillions.
Ministers said allowing Powerball betting alongside the official product risks confusing customers about the difference between placing a bet and playing the National Lottery. The government cited a 2014 call for evidence on EuroMillions, which suggested that coexisting lottery-betting products and National Lottery games could cause such confusion.
A similar issue led to legislation in 2018 that prohibited betting on non-UK EuroMillions draws. That measure concerned separate national games linked to the same underlying draw and was intended to preserve the distinction between betting and National Lottery participation.
The consultation also makes a financial case for intervention. Betting operators can use Powerball’s large jackpot figures in their marketing without contributing proceeds to charitable initiatives, the government said, and alternative bets are often priced below an official ticket. It warned that continued third-party betting could reduce National Lottery sales and therefore reduce returns to good causes.
Allwyn expects Powerball to generate an additional £1 billion for good causes in its first five years. The operator introduced the game on July 21 as part of an ambition to increase National Lottery good-cause funding to £60 million a week by the end of its licence in 2034.
The National Lottery, established in 1994, has generated more than £53 billion for over 680,000 arts, sport, heritage and community projects. The proposed Powerball condition is intended to align the game more closely with other National Lottery draw-based products and maximise those returns.
The consultation applies across the United Kingdom and invites submissions from betting and lottery businesses, affected operators, players, organisations and other interested parties. Responses are due by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4.
