National Lottery players warned shops will be unable to sell tickets for ‘one weekend’

The National Lottery is poised for a significant technology upgrade this summer which will see players unable to purchase tickets for “one weekend.”

Operator Allwyn, which assumed control of the lottery from Camelot in February of last year, has alerted retailers to an impending 36-hour shutdown of retail terminals.

This comprehensive tech switchover, deemed necessary by the Czech-based group, will temporarily halt ticket sales at retail point-of-sale terminals.

To mitigate disruption, Allwyn intends to initiate the upgrade around 11pm on a Saturday, capitalising on the National Lottery's overnight non-trading period and the absence of Sunday draw-based games.

However, the exact date for the plans has not been revealed.

Andria Vidler, UK chief executive at Allwyn, has assured retailers that the timing will "tie in best with our retail partners," appealing for their "help and diligence to enable a seamless transition".

The upgrade, which has faced delays since Allwyn took over the licence, is expected to pave the way for the introduction of new draw-based games.

It was unable to switch to a new technology provider after agreeing to extend the contract for the existing supplier, International Games Technology (IGT).

IGT had challenged the Gambling Commission’s decision to award Allwyn the 10-year licence in court, but later dropped the legal action.

Allwyn has previously admitted that delays to the new games it had hoped to introduce in 2024 will hold back the amount of money it can give to good causes in the early part of its 10-year licence.

But the group remained committed to its long-term goal to double money for good causes, despite falling short of early targets.

Allwyn said: “Allwyn is investing over £350 million into improving the operations and technology of The National Lottery.

“This change is critical – it will give us the springboard from which we can continue to improve the player and retailer experience and enable us deliver on our ambitious plans to double returns to Good Causes from £30 million to £60 million a week by the end of the licence.”

The lottery licence handover has been hampered by intense legal wrangling since it was first announced.

Camelot took action over the Gambling Commission’s decision to award the licence to Allwyn, which was finally settled when Allwyn bought Camelot, although the two companies continued to operate separately ahead of the handover.

Media tycoon Richard Desmond is also suing the Gambling Commission after missing out on the licence in what is set to culminate in a High Court showdown.

Details of the tech upgrade come as Allwyn revealed UK earnings halved at the start of 2025 despite a sales boost from March’s record EuroMillions jackpot and strong demand for online instant win games.

It reported a 6% rise in UK gross gaming revenues to 1.02 billion euros (£860 million) – up 4% with currency movements stripped out.

Sales by amounts staked lifted 3% on a constant currency basis as players took a punt on the EuroMillions rollover in March with its record-breaking 250 million euro (£211 million) jackpot.

The latest EuroMillions on Friday night could also see a single ticket-holder win the biggest lottery prize the UK has ever seen if they match the numbers in the draw.

The wider Allwyn group, which runs lotteries across Europe, saw underlying earnings rise 1% to 362.3 million euros (£305.7 million) in the three months to March 31.