History

The National Lottery was created in the aftermath of the economic crisis at the end of the 1920s. Charles de Broqueville’s government hoped to be able to get rid of the budget deficit of Belgian Congo with a lottery. On the 29th of May 1934, an Act and a Royal Decree authorized the Minister of Colonies to organise a Colonial Lottery.

The fact that the government used a Lottery as a solution was no exception. The Act of December 31 1851 allowed the organization of lotteries for charity, cultural projects or purposes of public interest on the condition that the local, regional or national authorities agreed. It was the public lottery’s task to channel the gaming needs of people and to return profits to society.

The first draw of the Colonial Lottery was held in the Royal Circus on the 18th of October 1934. A ticket cost 100 franks. Today, that would mean that the tickets were so expensive that the two million available tickets would never be sold completely. For the second draw, the number of tickets and the price per ticket were reduced by half. Fifths of tickets made sure that everybody could participate. Quick analyses and adequate responses made sure the Colonial Lottery had the support of a growing audience.

The net profits went to the Colonial Treasury and then to the Funds for the Homeland Welfare of Congo. An additional frank’s profit on the sales of partial tickets guaranteed a substantial injection of working capital for a number of social and philanthropic associations (the National Charity for War Invalids, the National Charity for War Veterans and War Victims, the National Charity for the Blind, the National Charity for Child Welfare, the Red Cross, etc.).

During the Second World War, the activities of the Colonial Lottery were suspended. The continuity was assured via the Winter Aid Lottery. From January 1941 to September 1944 the profits of this lottery went to the needy victims of war.

After the war, the Colonial Lottery resumed its activities.

The Royal Decree of December 27 1945 modified the profit distribution plan for the first time. It determined the percentages in which the split tickets participated in winnings; a number of charities were eliminated and others were added, e.g. the Queen Elisabeth Funds for medical assistance for natives and the Social Kivu Charity. In a Royal Decree of May 3rd 1947 the Father Damian Foundation was added to the list. A growing number of people wanted to start using part of the growing profits for their own country instead of reserving them exclusively for the colonies.

In view of the organisation of the World Exhibition in Brussels in 1958, the act of July 27 1953 determined that during 18 years 40.000.000 BEF of the annual profits would be transferred to this organisation. The remaining profits were to be paid to the Funds for Homeland Welfare. The same act also determined that half the profits of a special Easter draw would be allocated to the National Disaster Fund of the Belgian Red Cross for the benefit of the victims of the spring tide of the 1st of February 1953.

With the independence of Congo on June 30th 1960, a Royal Decree changed the name of the Colonial Lottery to African Lottery. Since the population was not all too fond of that name, the royal decree of December 10 1962 created the National Lottery, to be part of the Ministry of Finance.

On the 6th of July 196’, a special act on the National Lottery was adopted in order to guarantee the continuity of the National Lottery by means of explicit and permanent stipulations. The National Lottery was to be a part of the Ministry of Finance with separate management possibilities but without its own legal personality. It was subject to the Minister of Finances and was managed by a committee of eight high officials from different ministries. Daily management was the responsibility of an official of the Ministry of Finances as general director. From now on, the net profits were to be used to finance projects in the benefit of the rural population in developing countries whereas another part was destined for purposes of public interest as discussed by the council of ministers.

These legal instruments were supposed to enable the National Lottery to implement a policy that would easily follow international challenges.

The heavy floods in Ruisbroek of 1976 did not only require financial aid from the Disaster Fund but also led to drastic changes within the National Lottery. The Act of July 12 1976 modified the act of July 6 1964 and expanded the activities of the National Lottery in order to follow international trends. The Minister of Finances now had the authorization to organise a number lottery in addition to the existing ticket lottery. Lotto and Toto were born. That same act also stipulated that the net profits did not need to be used exclusively for development aid and that part thereof was to be used for purposes of public interest. Every year, a special ticket lottery draw would be organised for the benefit of the National Disaster Fund.

On February 4 1978 the first Lottery Draw was held. After a modest start with an 18.563.260 BEF stake, a month later 80 million franks were bet. After two years, the National Lottery saw its profits double. 1978 is hence a milestone in the history of the National Lottery. A medium-sized company became an enormous large enterprise. The number of staff quadrupled, the National Lottery moved to the former Westbury hotel tower building, near the Central Station. Until 1974, only two distributors controlled the ticket stocks, yet in 1981 70 concessionaries signed an agreement with the National Lottery.

In the wake of the tremendously popular Lotto, other ideas were tested. Soccer bets were launched in the form of Toto, a new type of ticket lottery, Sweepstake, was launched in which the tickets were attributed based on the results of horse races and a draw. These formulas were not successful. Since the Lottery, the public interest for the classic ticket lottery had diminished. An attempt to make this lottery more attractive by adding a Duo slip with an instant lottery ticket and the introduction of the Baraka ticket did not yield the expected results. The instant lottery games Presto (1983) and Subito (1987) were on the other hand enormously successful.

As the National Lottery’s turnover rose, the profit distribution became more attractive. A number of parliamentary questions were addressed to the Minister of Finances, e.g. on the concrete definition of the term ‘purposes of public interest”. A number of Royal Decrees were published to answer these questions. The Royal Decree of December 27 1979 contained a list of types of institutions that were eligible for a certain form of subsidies, including institutions for minors or adult disabled persons, sheltered workshops, schools for special needs children, homes for the elderly, etc. The Royal Decree of August 23 1982 elaborated on the purposes of public interest and added the following categories: sports, art and culture, nature and the protection of the environment, manifestations in the benefit of national prestige or social, economic or cultural life. Later on, the Royal Decree of January 1991 expanded that definition and included all activities in the broadest sense of social, family, humane, patriotic of scientific aspects of Belgian legal n on-profit organisations as well as purposes of public interest. As a response to a manifest of the Nobel Prize winners, with the Act of October 3 1983 the government created a “Third World Survival Fund” which would be funded by the National Lottery. As of 1984, the distribution of net profits was determined in a percentage per sector: 35% for development aid, 25% for the Third World Survival Fund and public charities and 40% for other purposes, including the Belgian Solidarity Fund, the Foundation for European Cancer Research and the Koninklijke Muntschouwburg.

In addition to the direct subsidies, as of 1980 many associations received additional support in the form of sponsoring. In general, all sports and cultural manifestations are eligible but in practice mainly the intrinsic value of the event, the budgetary possibilities and publicity impact prevail. High-quality manifestations aimed at a wide audience will be more eligible than selective events. The flagship of the sport sponsoring activity is the Lotto cycling team that was founded in 1984.

In accordance with the special act of January 16 1989 with respect to the financing of the Communities and Regions, 27,44% of the subsidy budget of the National Lottery is attributed to the three Communities in our country (German-speaking, French-speaking and Flemish). They can decide independently how to use this money within the sectors of sports, culture, science, tourism, special needs education, care for the handicapped, environment, etc.

1978 was the year of the Lotto and an extremely important moment in the development of our profits, but 1991 was very important for our organisation itself. As a consequence of government policies aiming to reinforce the autonomy and responsibility of public services with a commercial character, as of September 1 1991 the National Lottery was transformed into an autonomous institution of public interest with a legal personality, under the supervision of the Minister of Finances. The National Lottery no longer needs to limit its activities to the organisation of public lotteries in accordance with commercial methods, she now also has the right to make her installations and know-how profitable, to enter into agreements with foreign lotteries or other persons in order to complete joint transactions or in order to commercialize their respective products on the market.

The profits are still largely allocated to the same purposes, except for the subsidies of the National Disaster Fund. A yearly donation is created to replace the varying subsidy that was raised by a special ticket lottery draw. The Koning Boudewijnstichting also receives a yearly donation. From now on, subsidies will be granted according to a distribution plan that will be determined every year in a royal decree, discussed during the council of ministers following a proposal by the Minister of Finances. These distribution plans mainly stick to the larger goals of public interest as specified by the Royal Decree of February 20 1992. The restructuring of 1991 had become a necessity. Together with the growth of the annual turnover, the profits and the addition of members of staff, the organisation and the equipment of the administrative services had undergone fundamental changes and needed flexibility. The Products and Research department of the National Lottery, founded in 1991, launched a number of innovations at high speed. Scratch games such as Domino, 21, Tele-Kwinto with a link to a television game, Scrratch and Trix were introduced. In 1992, the National Lottery started the automation of the Lotto and Joker sales network. As of April 1993, the 4,200 points of sale were equipped with an online terminal. These terminals are connected to the central computer of the National Lottery using the telecommunication network. They transfer the participation data directly. That enables participants to continue playing until shortly before the draw.

The introduction of the second weekly Lotto and Joker Draw on October 6 1993 was an immediate success. The daily Keno draw (1995) tries to comply with the needs of a different type of player.

In September 1996, the Lotto regulations were adjusted because of the introduction of a Pool Fund. 3% of the pool of each Lotto draw goes to this Fund.

On October 3 1998 the price of the Lotto is adjusted. One grid now costs 20 BEF instead of 10 BEF. That is the first price change since the start of the Lottery on February 4 1978. This increase was caused by the evolution of the inflation. During that period of time, the price of a loaf of bread had almost doubled: for a 1kg loaf the price went from 30 BEF to 57 BEF in 1998, a newspaper cost 10 BEF in 1978 and a stamp 8 BEF. At the same time, the amounts paid to the players are increased.

The international contacts with other state lotteries continue to grow. They are stimulated by the structural change in September 1991. During the universal draw in Sevilla on May 9 1992, 14 countries from all continents, except for Australia, are represented. The tradition of the draw of a European Lottery, started in Madrid in 1988, was continued.

With regular intervals, the scratch ticket offer is adjusted in order to meet with the wishes and expectations of the public. With Bingovision in 1997, the National Lottery launches another television game. Magico and Eldorado were created in 1997, Picto, Subit’Euro and Win For Life in 1998. Win for Life, with which a monthly allowance of 1,000 EURO is granted to the winner for the rest of his life, is a tremendous success. In 1997 the National Lottery developed its own website and as of 1998 direct communication with the players was a possibility. In that same year, the National Lottery moved to the Belliardstraat. In 1999, the sales network underwent a thorough reformation. Until then, some 70 depositories formed the link between the National Lottery and its sales network. Now, this task was transferred to nine regional office with own members of staff. These 9 offices (4 in Flanders, 4 in Wallonia and 1 in Brussels) serve all sales networks in the country. At the same time, the online management system was replaced and the management applications were changed (15 servers, a network of more than 7000 online points of sales, a storage capacity of more than 1.000 billion characters, 240.000.000 transactions processed annually by the online system, over 220.000.000 lottery tickets to be processed, peaks of sometimes more than 12.500 transactions per minute).

In 1999-2000, the range of scratch tickets was expanded with Bingo Express and Kosovo, the profits of which went to the humanitarian aid organisations in the war zone. Later on, Astro, Cybero and Loxo followed.

As of 2001, the public gave a new formula of seasonal scratch tickets a warm welcome: Halloween, Valentine, Pascal en Cyclo. In 2001, the National Lottery developed a subscription system enabling the players to participate in Lotto and Joker draws from home. After Win for Life, Cabrio become the most popular new scratch ticket. As of May 2002, participants could win a car with this game. After the summer, Cabrio was replaced by Corso, offering not only money but also a trip.

The expansion of the product range is one of the main reasons for the annual turnover growth from 1991 to 2001. The annual rise of 5% of its turnover the National Lottery had to obtain in accordance with the business plan for 1995 to 2001, was not always obtained. After a successful 1999, a stagnation and even a decline were seen in the turnover.

In 2002 the government decided to transform the National Lottery into a public limited company. The act of April 19 2002 enables it to respond in a dynamic manner to a quickly evolving society. The National Lottery is now controlled by a Board of Directors of 14 members among which the delegate administrator. On February 13 2003, a new management committee was appointed. The committee consists of experts with experience in private companies. Their first assignment is to restructure the company thoroughly and to prepare it for its new status as a plc. Compared to other plc’s, the state remains the sole shareholder. Hence, the company can continue to guarantee its social role, which is exactly why it was founded. The relationships between the shareholder (the State) and the National Lottery are regulated by a five-year management agreement, stipulating that the National Lottery must act as a socially responsible and professional provider of gaming fun. It must channel gaming behaviour in Belgium and provide gaming fun to a wide group of people by means of an offer of recreational games. It must avoid the risk of addiction and contribute to the prevention and treatment of gambling addictions and the protection of minors. The management agreement also determines the rules for the calculation and payment of the monopoly interest, the special contributions and the percentage of the profit that is used every year to finance aid to developing countries, purposes of public interest and other charities. The social goals of the National Lottery remain unchanged but the new status gives the company a wider range of motion enabling it to enter into European partnerships, for example. In our new European reality, this type of collaboration has become indispensable due to the difficult position of the monopoly on the organisation of lotteries on the one hand and the many opportunities that lie hidden in partnerships with other European lotteries. A specific realisation is Euro Millions, a new source of income and activities that was launched in October 2004. Internally, the collaboration between the management committee and the board of administrators has become more intense and close. The hierarchic priority of the delegate administrator within the National Lottery will be accentuated more. A new organisation schedule has been drawn up and the competences of each department are laid down in writing. The National Lottery tries to find a healthy balance between the experience and quality in-house and the refreshing corporate culture that is brought in by new recruits from the private sector.

The increasing dynamics have a major impact on the sales process. A great deal of attention goes to the expansion and optimisation of the sales network. A development team is charged with the study and realisation of a new commercial approach. In addition to the three-monthly LO Contact magazine the national Lottery publishes for its sales channels, it now launches a more frequent newsletter LO News, there is fast and digital communication and a network of 24 commercial representatives is built. A total relationship marketing package creates a win-win situation for both parties in which the sales motivation and hence also the sales results are lifted up to a higher level. In order to further improve customer service, in 2003 new Altura terminals are installed in 5400 points of sale. An information screen for the participant and a touch screen for the seller provide larger efficiency.

The efforts to continue to launch new products that comply with the needs of different consumer groups will be intensified by the Strategy & Business Development Department. Elaborate market research is used to fund product innovations after which new products are introduced that are adjusted to the wishes and needs of the consumer.

Pick-3, a new online game is created. Characteristic of this little brother of Lotto, joker and Keno is that it offers a higher chance to win a smaller amount of money. In é003, the line extension among the scratch tickets is continued with the introduction of the new Cabrio and Loxo tickets, followed by the Lucky Six ticket. During the second half of the year, the launch of five new scratch products (Cleopatra, Casino, Halloween, scratch greeting cards and 2004 for Life) is good for an additional sale of 14% compared to the same period of the previous year. This success is hence continued in 2004 with new scratch tickets Fun for Life, Kop & Munt, Shoot Goal and Shoot Smash.

Remarkable efforts are made for the 25th anniversary of the Lotto in 2003. Using a special Lotto form and a stake of at least 5 Euro, an immediate win of 1.000 or 10.000 euro is available, later in the year even 1.000.000 euro. The increase of the turnover of the Lottery in the year of its twenty-fifth anniversary with 6,6% compared to 2002 is mainly due to a better organisation of the pools. In 2003, 15 pools were organized, good for a total amount of 39.000.000 euro. The elaborate image campaign in 2004 capitalized on the dream moment that every Lotto participant will recognize: “and now it’s my turn”.

For the 70th anniversary of the National Lottery, a special festive program is developed including a special Lotto draw of 7.000.000 euro, the largest pool ever in Belgium, a special scratch ticket Subito 70, an exhibition ‘In de ban van het spel. 70 jaar Nationale Loterij’, the republication of the book ‘Loterijen in Europa.Vijf eeuwen geschiedenis’, an academic colloquium and a grand party.

As for the summer of 2006, the classic summer pools for Lotto and Joker are replaced by a permanent pool in which the stake is increased with 250.000 euro every week during 20 weeks. The introduction of new scratch tickets is meant to improve existing games, add some variation (Casino Prestige, Subito XL, Presto XL,…) and to meet with the wishes of fun-seekers who are always looking for a new thrill (Passport, Sesamo,King of Cash,…). Certain scratch tickets are linked to the world of sports, e.g. the scratch ticket that was issued for 100 years BOIC, Podium (F1, cycling, horseracing) and Goal. Other scratch tickets are themed according to trends (the simultaneous launch of the Star Wars and Pink Panther movies) or popular games (Pacman, Monopoly).

In order to comply with a number of tasks imposed by the government, the National Lottery pays specific attention to the prevention of gambling addiction and the protection of minors. The National Lottery takes into account new and specific parameters when creating new products in order to help prevent gambling addiction. In 2006, it also developed an intensive campaign on “Responsible Gaming”.

In spite of its transformation into a contemporary and commercial organisation, the social concern that is closely related to its historic base remains present within the National Lottery. Still, 2002 represented change in style where subsidies are concerned: from now on, the National Lottery asks to make the existence and execution of subsidies public by asking the beneficiaries to announce to their environment that they had a little financial help from the National Lottery. The Lottery accentuates its efforts with its institutional campaigns “You play, you help” and “the National Lottery creates chances”.

Since 2004, the National Lottery has summarized its subsidy philosophy, the distribution of and application for subsidies in a subsidy charter.

For the National Lottery, the humanitarian aspect is still a priority. It still subsidizes the General Directorate for Development Aid and the Belgian Survival Fund. It continuously adjusts to the incessantly growing emergency situations in a world in which the needs continue to grow. It wants to create chances and therefore has added new accents in 2006: it provides financial aid for beginning organisations when starting their projects. It wants to offer youngsters the possibility to further develop their cultural, athletic and scientific talents. It supports promising associations or organisations that find it difficult to realise their projects. It makes sure that deprived citizens can participate in athletic or cultural events.