NewsRegulation3 min read
UKGC Welcomes Powerball and Backs Allwyn Player Protections
Gambling Commission acting chief executive Sarah Gardner has backed Allwyn's player protection work after a bumpy technology upgrade, welcoming Powerball as a route to more money for Good Causes.
Written by Editorial Desk5 October 2026
Sarah Gardner, acting chief executive of the Gambling Commission, told Allwyn's Participant Protection Conference on October 1 that the regulator fully supports the National Lottery operator's progress on player protection, despite teething issues after the largest technology upgrade in the lottery's history.
It was the second conference of its kind, and Allwyn has committed to holding one every year, Gardner said. She is normally the Commission's deputy chief executive and has stepped up to the acting role again this year. The agenda covered neurodiversity, product design and risk, and how players understand the products.
The speech carried two messages. The Commission is backing Allwyn's push to launch new games in the name of higher returns to Good Causes, and it expects the operator to lead the market on protecting the people who play them. In our reading, the second is the condition for the first.
Protections built into the Digital Cutover
Gardner described the upgrade at the start of 2026, known as the Digital Cutover, as a key moment for the Fourth Licence and a gateway to product innovation. As part of it, new protections were embedded for every player using the National Lottery online or through its App.
She acknowledged that the changes had not all gone to plan.
There have been teething issues - we all know sometimes a step forward might be followed by a step back – but the commitment, and the progress that has followed so far, to player protection is real and is something that I and the Commission fully support.
The published text of the speech does not describe the new protections or say what the teething issues were. Gardner said Allwyn is also working with retailers on support for players at risk, which takes the effort beyond the digital channels.
Powerball and the £1.7 billion case
The Commission has approved several new games and changes to existing ones, Gardner said. The most prominent is Powerball, which she said is aimed at raising Returns to Good Causes. She called its introduction “a clear sign of Allwyn’s ambition to innovate The National Lottery in order to raise Returns to Good Causes and one that we have welcomed.”
According to Gardner, the lottery raised £1.7 billion for Good Causes over the last 12 months of published data, and nothing else in the UK delivers for Good Causes in the same way. That figure is the Commission's justification for letting the product range grow.
Lowest risk does not mean no risk
Gardner pointed to the Gambling Survey for Great Britain (GSGB), the Commission's official statistics. Its 2025 annual report, published in the summer, found the National Lottery was the most common gambling activity, with 31% of people having played it in the last four weeks. Scratchcards stood at 11% and online instant win games at 6%.
She said the survey places the lottery among the lowest-risk gambling products, but that risks still exist and protections are still needed. A low rate of harm applied to the most widely played product can still reach a large number of people.
Gardner argued that the lottery's status as a national institution brings higher standards and closer scrutiny. “In essence it’s a high wire act where one wrong step can cause big problems,” she said, adding: “And trust forfeited is never easy to win back.”
But we can never rest and nor should we – we expect Allwyn and the National Lottery to be at the forefront in terms of determining and demonstrating best practice when it comes to protecting players – and indeed that is a key tenet within the Fourth Licence regulatory framework.
New leadership at Allwyn
Gardner thanked Andria Vidler, Allwyn's previous chief executive, and said Phil Walker, the new interim chief executive, shares the same collaborative approach. “For all the challenges that were encountered, Andria was always committed to transparent and collaborative engagement with me and with the Commission as a whole – a view I know Phil also has,” she said. The speech did not say what those challenges were.
The next test is practical: the retailer work on at-risk players, and whether the Commission or Allwyn sets out what went wrong after the Cutover and how it was fixed.
