National Lottery operator Camelot spent £59.2m of its fund for 'good causes' on marketing last year, the Mirror has learned.
The amount of cash from the charitable budget 'raided' for promotional funds has tripled in the last three years, with a decision looming on the renewal of their license to run the Lottery.
And a leaked document from an industry source reveals the firm has hugely scaled up advertising spend to promote ‘The National Lottery’ as a general brand - separately from ads to promote games like Lotto or Euromillions.
The firm spent £45.2m on advertising for the brand in 2020/21 - up from just £1.5m in 2017/18.
Meanwhile, some £18.8m of the 'good causes' budget was used for marketing in 2017/18, rising to an eye-watering 59.2m in 2020/21 – an over threefold increase.
Under the terms of its licence, Camelot is entitled to use good causes money for marketing purposes in order “to support the long-term health of The National Lottery”.
The firm has argued they need the extra spending to maintain their “share of voice” among growing competition from society lotteries that don’t have to pay tax on ticket sales.
And they denied the increase had anything to do with licence renewal.
But critics have claimed Camelot will benefit from promotion of the Lottery brand when their licence comes up for renewal next year.
Alexander Stafford, Conservative MP for Rother Valley, said: “Under Camelot the National Lottery seems to have become a plaything of corporate interests which prioritises PR and profit over actually making a difference.
“If levelling up is to be the success we all want it to be then we cannot afford to have an institution like the National Lottery lose sight of what its core purpose is: to generate money for causes that matter to the public, not to line the pockets of Camelot shareholders.
“These figures show that the National Lottery is in urgent need of reform. During a time when the National Lottery could be making a real difference to people’s lives across the country, it seems to have been co-opted into the marketing arm of Camelot.”
And Alex Davies-Jones, Labour ’s Shadow Minister for Tech, Gambling the Digital Economy, said: “The National Lottery is a much-loved institution and in the absence of any vision or investment from the Government in regional culture or grassroots sports, it has played a vital role in ‘levelling up’ where the Government have failed.
“Labour have long called for a transparent approach to National Lottery funding. People should be able to clearly see where their money is being spent.
“If true these allegations could seriously undermine the reputation of the lottery. As the license comes up for renewal, transparency and maximising funds to good causes must be at the heart of any future providers’ approach to running the National Lottery.”
In July 2020, the Gambling Commission approved a £25 million "investment in marketing" drawn from the National Lottery Distribution Fund (NLDF) for the 2020/21 financial year.
The body said the cash would "support the long-term health of the National Lottery by driving positivity, loyalty and an emotional connection to the brand."
A Camelot spokesperson said: “It would be completely wrong to state that increased investment in National Lottery marketing has been done for Camelot's benefit. It’s a matter of public record that, following our strategic review in 2017, we committed to spend more on reinvigorating The National Lottery brand.
“This work to better connect play with purpose – in terms of generating money for Good Causes – is vital to the long-term health of The National Lottery and has resulted in both increased participation and increased returns to Good Causes, with record returns to Good Causes from ticket sales last year and annual returns to Good Causes now over £500 million higher than they were at the start of the third licence in 2009.”
