Sazka increased its betting and lottery sales

The greatest rise was generated by odds and sports bets (53.6%) and the Starport gaming system (39.2%); number lottery stakes, which are the greatest contributors to company’s sales, were up by approximately 4 %, of which the sales of Sportka, the oldest and most popular number lottery, rose by 5.8% while sales of the Euromilióny number lottery were up by 42.8 %. Fast game sales also went up year on year, while instant lottery stakes declined.

Last year’s rise in odds and sports bets was primarily related to the launch of the www.e-sazka.cz portal, which enabled players to prepare their bets on the Internet and subsequently place the bets at a terminal or by phone. The growth of the Starport gaming system is consistent with the fact that technical games are one of the fastest growing segments of the betting and lottery industry in the Czech Republic.

The increased stakes of the Sportka and Euromilióny number lotteries reflect their rising jackpots – the highest prize paid out in 2008 in Sportka was us$ 4 million while the current Euromilióny jackpot has exceeded us$ 3.8million. Last year, SAZKA saw 68 players win prizes in excess of us$ 48,929, with 24 winnings exceeding a us$ 489,299 mark.

The stake structure indicates that Sazka generates the crucial portion of its sales in segments which typically involve lower stakes by a large number of players in games with a low draw frequency, and this reduces the risks of compulsive or uncontrolled gaming.