Online Lottery Company Faces Ruin As Punters Decide They Don't Like Mondays
ENGLAND -- As reported by the Guardian: "It started out as a small but brazen challenger to the national lottery, hoping to capitalise on a stream of damaging stories that have caricatured many of the good causes benefiting from lottery cash as unworthy or ridiculous.
"But last night, Tim Holley, chairman of the company behind Monday, the world's first online-only lottery, was believed to be close to resigning as the company found itself on the brink of financial ruin after just four weeks in operation. Mr Holley and two fellow directors have also received payouts worth more than the £520,000 donated to the 20 charities linked to Monday.
"Computer system hiccups, a poorly received publicity campaign and regulatory constraints have all been blamed in part after Chariot, the company behind Monday, admitted it had failed to come anywhere close to its target of 5m ticket sales a week. After the first four draws, held each Monday, total tickets sold have reached just 1.7m and are in steady decline as the impact of a costly television advertising campaign to launch the lottery fades..."