Sazka Group to Bid for UK National Lottery Licence

Sazka Group, the gambling firm owned by billionaire Karel Komarek, is set to bid for the UK National Lottery licence. The Group hired City advisers to prepare an offer to take the licence from Camelot in 2023.

A spokesman for Sazka said: “Sazka Group has a proven track record in taking on established lotteries and making them better, which would position it well for any potential bid for the UK’s National Lottery.”

Komarek founded Sazka Group in 2016 and it has since become one of Europe’s biggest lottery operators. In 2018, almost 80 million players placed more than £14 billion of bets across its lotteries and its other sports betting brands.

The contest is set to launch in the first half of the year when the Gambling Commission regulator will question interested parties to check they are “fit and proper” operators.

A spokesman for the Gambling Commission said: “We’ve been reviewing the feedback received from a wide range of interested parties and we have been encouraged by the healthy level of interest.”