Last Friday, Lottoland won a major legal victory against the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). Before this decision was handed down, the online betting company looked to be on the ropes in New South Wales. Now, they appear ready to do business for a long time to come.

What is Lottoland?

Lottoland Limited is a gaming company located in Gibraltar. Founded by David Rosen in 2013, the company offers the following:

Lottoland started with only seven employees, but they’ve since become one of the fastest-growing companies in Europe. Their sales grew 820% from 2012 to 2015, and 2016 saw revenue of more than 300 million euros.

Licensed in more than a dozen nations, they boast a customer base of over six-million individuals. They recently made headlines by introducing scratchcards with 15 million and 20 million jackpots. As of this writing, these are the largest lump sum scratchies on the planet.

How Does Lottery Draw Betting Work?

After creating a Lottoland account, players select a series of numbers in the global lottery draws of their choice (such as Powerball). If these numbers prove to be winners, the player receives a cash prize. The payouts aren’t as big as winning the actual lottery, but players can wager on draws from the other side of the world.

How Does Jackpot Betting Work?

In this form of gambling, players submit numbers similar to a traditional lottery draw. However, instead of relying on a lottery to determine the outcome, winners are chosen based on financial market indices. These numbers are randomly selected from financial markets, which are then added together to create a single number.

Australia vs Lottoland – Round One

Lottoland started offering lottery draw betting to their Australian customers in 2014. While they continue to do so in other nations, this practice was eventually outlawed Down Under.

Much of the opposition came from lottery operators and news agents. They based their arguments on lost revenue, as Lottoland’s services were costing them millions of dollars per year.

Australia vs Lottoland – Round Two

Once their lottery draw services were made illegal, Lottoland countered by introducing jackpot betting. In June, however, the ACMA found that the new services violated Aussie laws prohibiting games of chance. Facing the collapse of their Australian business, Lottoland appealed.

Justice John Sackar of the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Australia

A Legal Decision Overturned

Last week, Lottoland took their case to the Supreme Court of New South Wales. Much to their delight, Justice John Sackar overturned the previous decision.

The argument revolved around the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001, which the ACMA had used in their ruling. However, since Lottoland allows wagers on an event and not a game, Justice Sackar ruled that it didn’t apply.

He further stated, “A game must, in my view, be more than the simple process by which a person parts with his/her money with a chance of financial return.”

The ACMA vowed to “give careful consideration to the judgement and its implications for Australia’s online gambling regulation.”

Good News for the Sea Eagles

Without a doubt, it must be a happy day for Tom Trbojevic. That’s because his professional rugby league team, the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, have a sponsorship deal with Lottoland.

Given the recent legal issues, the future of Lottoland’s three-year, million-dollar deal with the club seemed uncertain. However, thanks to the recent ruling, the group extended their sponsorship for another year, which is worth close to $500,000 for the team.

The deal includes naming rights for the Brookvale Oval sporting grounds. It has also been expanded to include both Eagles coach Des Hasler and his coaching box.

No doubt, members of the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation are likely rolling their eyes in disgust.