Sportech’s “Spot the Ball” Punter Decries Game for Lack of Jackpot Winner for Ten Years

A faithful British” Spot the Ball” player cried foul upon learning that for more than a decade, the betting game’s jackpot has not been won. Pete Cook, a former Tamworth FC commercial manager faithfully buying “Spot the Ball” coupons for eleven years with hopes of winning the £250,000 jackpot said, “By the law of averages, someone should have won it by now.”

Pete said that for years, he has always fancied his chances of winning big from “Spot the Ball.” However, enthusiasm turned into exasperation after assessing that he had spent a total amount of £1,300 for playing the game during the past 11 years, for which he won only £10 and a handful of £2 vouchers. The 66-year old “Spot the Ball” fan took action by confronting the organisers in order to find out when the jackpot was last won. Much to his surprise and dismay, he was told that there has not been any winner of the £250,000 top prize since 2004. As Pete had been regularly spending £2.50 every week for 1,000 crosses, he mused that if nobody won the jackpot for that long, it is about time that someone should speak out.

Sportech being the current operator of “Spot the Ball,” explained that there were winners during the last ten years for which the company paid over £16 million, albeit not for the £250,000 jackpot, but for other prizes including those paid out for crosses bordering the centre of the football.

“Spot the Ball,” the coupon game of chance that enjoyed the following of nearly 3,000,000 players in its prime years during the seventies, engages punters to make guesses about the exact location of a football that has been deleted in a published picture. A player pays 50 pence for 50 guesses using crosses to indicate their deductions. If any of his or her crosses lands on the exact center of the football, then that player wins the top prize of £250,000.

However, the advent of the National Lottery and its offerings of million-pound jackpots and carryover of un-won prizes in the next lottery draw had drawn away majority of the “Spot the Ball” players. By year 2000, the numbers dropped to 200,000 players, and by 2004 the supposed year when the last jackpot was won, there were only 64,000 players. Today, there are only 14,000 players filling out “Spot the Ball” coupons with crosses, still hoping to chance upon the centre of the football and finally win the elusive £250,000 top prize.

In 2010 and after entering into a new agreement with Trinity Mirror, Sportech revived Littlewoods’ traditional sports betting games, including “Spot the Ball,” in tabloids. In the same year, Sportech announced plans of reintroducing the game via the Daily Mirror. Apparently, the re-introduction of the traditional Littlewood “Spot the Ball” game had no impact, since patronage continued to dwindle.

Sportech experienced further setbacks when the game of chance became the subject of a legal battle between Sportech and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) pertaining to VAT payouts amounting to £93 million. Although Sportech initially succeeded in claiming a refund from HMRC, a subsequent appeal filed by tax authorities resulted to a court decision that required Sportech to return the VAT refund to HMRC.