How the new Gambling Bill will affect sports lottos and fundraisers

There are implications for “Win A House”, “Win A Car” draws and possibly competitions like “Last Man Standing”.

Thu, 28 May, 2026 - 13:32

John Fogarty

GAA clubs, county boards and other sports units will be restricted from promoting lotteries or other gambling activities during the day where the maximum winnings exceeds €10,000.

The Gambling Bill, passed by the Dáil on Wednesday, means clubs will not be permitted to advertise on “television, radio or an on-demand audio-visual media service between the hours of 5:30 am and 9:00 pm” unless the maximum winnings is or under the €10,000 mark.

That means future “Win A House” and “Win A Car” draws and possibly some competitions like “Last Man Standing” will have to adhere to the 9pm watershed, which is hoped will tackle the proliferation of gambling advertising when children and adolescents are using media.

The €10,000 limit exception made for advertising “gambling activity for a charitable or philanthropic purpose” came after Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and the bill’s author Minister for State at the Department of Justice James Browne in July obtained Government approval for amendments to the proposed legislation.

Late last year, the GAA co-signed a letter sent by the Federation of Sport to Minister McEntee late arguing the watershed “should not apply to community based not-for-profit organisations when essentially the legislation designed is for commercial and for profit corporations.”

In May, GAA director general Tom Ryan wrote to counties saying the bill was “insufficient and unworkable” for the organisation’s fundraising activities. He added: “Despite reassurances that our concerns had been heard, the only relevant amendment (of 60 brought forward) proposed exempting draws or lotteries with a total prize value of not more than €10,000 from the advertising restriction.”

To avoid breaching the law and advertise their fundraising drives during daytime hours, some GAA clubs may split pots over €10,000 into two draws.

Currently, any GAA draws that involve cash require a licence and the weekly club lotto is covered by an annual certificate. Under the new licence, permission will not be required when it is for a charitable or philanthropic cause, the total value of the winnings does not exceed €2,000, the minimum payment to participate is not over €5, and the number of tickets is limited to 1,500.

For a charitable or philanthropic purpose lottery gambling licence, the lottery can’t exceed €30,000 per week or €3,000 per game. For a once-off activity, the licence will allow up nothing above €360,000. There is no maximum entry fee for either a regular lottery or one-off.

Meanwhile, the Large Scale Sports Infrastructure fund allocations are to be announced next week. Clare (Caherlohan centre of excellence), Dublin (proposed Spawell CoE), Kerry (Fitzgerald Stadium), Tipperary (FBD Semple Stadium) and Wexford (Ferns CoE) are among 12 GAA applications seeking State financial assistance from a fund totalling €120 million. The scale of the allocations can be between €300,000 and €30m.