16 - 22 August 2001

Lotto system in Malta successful despite technical limitations

by Ivan Brincat

The privatisation of Malta’s Lotto Department comes at a good time. A market already exists and the lotto system in Malta is successful despite technical limitations. Moreover, the per capita consumption is not bad at all, Richard Frigren, a consultant and an honorary President of Intertoto, told The Malta Business Weekly.
Mr Frigren said that one of the most important aspects of a lotto organisation was trust. “The Malta lotto is well established and is trusted by the Maltese public,” he said.
On Monday, the Privatisation Unit received three bids from consortia willing to take over the Lottery Department. One of the consortia, First Lottery, is made up of Maltese and Scandinavian companies; the second, Maltaco is made up of Maltese and Greek companies; while the third consortium, Wignalot, is made up of Maltese and American companies.
The Swedish consultant who was former managing director of the Swedish lotto said that Malta is still lagging behind in an industry which is deemed to be the 12th largest in Europe compared to other countries with the same standard of living.
“With investment and the right technology, this difference can be bridged. Moreover, it would be a good idea to lift it to new technological levels because technology is the cornerstone for growth in this industry,” Mr Frigren said. He believes there is space for new games for the local market. “These could include oddset, bingo, chino and new versions of instant lotteries, sport pools and also Video Lottery Terminals.”
Mr Frigren is a consultant to the First Lottery Consortium which includes Alpine Group, Intergame, Norsk Tipping (who will help in marketing) and Essnet Interactive who are the selected suppliers to the consortium.
He believes that the structure of retailing in Malta does not follow the patterns and systems of central and northern Europe. “Lotto booths are not always found in the places frequented by a lot of people. This is not the way it is normally done. It would be better to be present in malls, shopping centres and in places which are frequen-ted by many people such as a tobacconist or stationery.”
Mr Frigren said there were a lot of traditions in the way tickets were sold but added that new games would require better marketing. “We have to make it easy for people not willing to walk 300 metres to be able to purchase tickets,” he said.
The Swede had worked with the Swedish lottery Tipstjanst since 1980 after spending a stint with Unilever and Xerox.
During his stay with the lottery company, Mr Frigren introduced a variety of games including Totogol which was later used by the Italians.
He also introduced a game called joker and in 1986 launched the first State lottery. Moreover, bookmaking for football and ice hockey were also launched. This proved to be very successful and in fact a similar system is in place in Scandinavia, Iceland, Canada, the Netherlands and Germany.
He was also the President of the World Lottery Association. Mr Frigren said that in 1996, the com-pany launched Viking Lotto which was a combined game for the Scandinavian market, the aim being that of increasing the customer base and thus the prize money.
The company also introduced video lottery terminals which were installed in different places including bars and restaurants. These are gaming machines which are controlled from a central location. In all, there are around 7,000 terminals in Sweden.
It was in 1997 that Mr Frigren left the company and joined another company which was working at the other end of the industry, that is, providing the terminals.
Asked if in the future there could be a Europe-wide lottery, he said that this was very difficult. “There are countries and regions which work together to increase the customer base. There is one lottery in Canada and in Australia but having one in Europe is very difficult.”
Mr Frigren is personally against a mega jackpot. “Imagine what a 50 million dollar prize would do to a common family. A fraction of that amount is enough to change one’s life.”
He, however, stated that a country like Malta could never create a huge jackpot alone so it has to try to work with some other countries to create a lottery. “This is not easy because there have to be certain similarities. It would be ideal to have similar cultural and sociological circumstances. This is something which can be developed in the long term,” he said.
He groups the gaming industry into different categories. These include lotteries, casinos, horse and greyhound racing and bookmaking which is very common in England.
Mr Frigren is aware of the illegal lotto across Europe and in Malta. “The size of this illegal business differs a lot from one country to another. However, a government cannot let it loose because it would cause trouble since this is potential gangster business.”
“If the gaming industry is not properly regulated with licences and is not efficient and secure there could be a lot of risks for consumers. It is therefore important to have the police stop these operations but this cannot be done overnight. The big difference is that lotteries normally raise funds for good causes. “These could either be in the form of tax or direct contributions to sports, schools and hospitals.”