Belgian lottery in cross-marketing hot water

Following complaints from major international online and land gambling and advertising firms of unfair competitive conduct, Belgium’s Loterie Nationale has agreed to pay a fine of Euro 1.9 million assessed by the European nation’s Competition Authority.

The punishment is in respect of the lottery’s actions in launching its online sports betting product Scooore.be in 2013, where it was accused of abusing its monopoly status and dominant position in the market to cross-sell the new product using the lottery’s identity, and information and email addresses from its more traditional lottery activities.

The lottery also took advantage of exclusivity provisions in its contracts with Belgian newsagents.

The Authority ruled that this was not fair in the context of competitive business and had the potential to disadvantage rivals.

The Authority noted that the lottery had cooperated during its investigation.