Ex-Porn Baron Wants £1.3 Billion from UKGC Over Failed Lottery Bid
Posted on: October 14, 2025, 06:09h.
Last updated on: October 14, 2025, 09:13h.
- Richard Desmond accuses UKGC of unfair National Lottery handling
- Lawsuit could cost taxpayers more than £1.3 billion
- Allwyn’s win faces renewed legal and public scrutiny
Ex-porn baron Richard Desmond wants £1.3 billion (US$1.58 billion) in damages from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for what he claims was a botched competition to run the country’s National Lottery. If he’s successful, the sum would be paid by the British taxpayer.
The 73-year-old billionaire media mogul is upset about the UKGC’s decision to award one of the UK’s biggest public service contracts – worth an estimated £80 billion (US$92 billion) over 10 years – to Czech lottery giant Sazka, now Allwyn.
Losing bidder Desmond founded OK! Magazine and owned The Daily Express newspaper and the UK’s Channel 5 TV station, as well as numerous pornographic titles like Asian Babes magazine.
Through his company, Northern & Shell, Desmond argues that the UKGC mishandled the bidding process, resulting in mistakes that adversely impacted its score.
‘Manifest Errors’
In London’s High Court last week, lawyers for Northern & Shell accused the regulator of “manifest errors” and procedural irregularities in the 2022 bidding process. They argued the UKGC gave Allwyn improper feedback, changed the rules after the fact, and refused to rerun the contest when the contract terms were later tweaked.
The UKGC has denied these allegations, describing the process as “fair and robust.”
In December 2024, Northern & Shell turned down a settlement offer from the UKGC said to be worth up to £10 million (US$13 million), The Guardian reported.
The Commission was eager to settle the matter to prevent additional delays in transferring control of the National Lottery from former operator Camelot to Allwyn. The ongoing legal case has already disrupted the transition, impacting the funds available for charitable and community initiatives.
High Stakes
For its part, the Commission says Desmond’s bid “performed poorly” and had little prospect of winning. Government KC Sarah Hannaford, representing the regulator, told the court it was “extremely unusual” for a losing bidder to demand billions as if it had been entitled to the license.
The case will continue at the high court this week, and the financial stakes are huge. The National Lottery’s “good causes” fund channels around £30 million a week to charities and community projects. The UKGC has reported its legal costs rocketed from about £400K to £13.4 million in a single year, largely due to defending the Desmond case.
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