If there is one thing that people truly hate is paying more money for the same services or witness successive tax increases. Not surprising, when the UK National Lottery announced its intention of doubling the price of lottery tickets, British players were upset and threatened to boycott the games. Until recently, those who wanted to compete for the jackpot had to pay £1 out of pocket, but starting on Monday, the amount has been increased to £2 per line.
Survey reflects mounting frustration
In the wake of the price hike, lottery officials and independent organizations carried out surveys to determine whether regular players are supporting or opposing this measure. The numbers speak for themselves as almost 3 in 4 players are firmly against the proposed measure have expressed their frustration for the UK National Lottery’s measures. Discontent players have also voiced their opinion about how those with less money will react to this measure.
The most pessimistic forecasts suggest that the number of sold tickets will greatly diminish as some people will no longer afford to play regularly. There is also a chance for some of them to make the transition to the Health Lottery, with this competitor bragging about supporting good causes without selling expensive tickets. Given the fact that the price of their tickets is £1, making this transition looks like a win-win situation for those unwilling or unable to pay 2 pounds per ticket. To make matters worse, the lottery operator is accused of squandering £15million on marketing the campaign.
A precedent does exist
Everyone seems to be rallying against this price rise and the most vocal critics are the representatives of Health Lottery who claim that Camelot is taking the fun away from the people. Even the Prime Minister took a jab at the lottery operator, claiming that spending so much money on advertising is plain silly when this money could be used to fund charities. Although the signals are obvious that players are not content with this measure, a precedent does exist, with the American Powerball operating a similar price rise last year.
Their regular players were equally upset initially and some even predicted that the lottery will experience a significant loss as a result of this measure. Not only this didn’t happen, but the number of tickets increased due to the fact that players got the chance to compete for higher jackpots. The UK National Lottery hopes that their own price hike will generate the same effect and have no intention of taking a step back and revisit their recent decision. Only time will tell whether the British players will have the same reaction as their American counterparts, or if the increase in lottery ticket prices will backfire.
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About Joe Knapp
Hello, my name is Joe and you can find me on Google+. I`m lucky enough to be a part of LotteryCrunch.com’s fantastic team and an editor of LotteryPros.com at the same time. Every day we are looking for the best lottery draws, attractive offers, interesting events, latest news, lucky winners’ stories and hot promotions in order to make a life of the lottery players easier. Serving you is our constant priority!
