Is Thunderball About to Become a Daily Draw?

Updated: Friday 26th April 2024

Sources found that Allwyn are working in the background, with plans to release the Thunderball Daily and Magic Monday games. So what do we know so far?

As the new name suggests, Thunderball is thought to become a daily game. Currently, draws take place every Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at approximately 8:00 PM. The game was released in June 1999, having undergone numerous format changes along the years. Initially, there was only one draw per week, held on Saturdays. Then, Wednesday draws were introduced in October 2002, Friday draws in May 2010, and Tuesday draws in January 2018.

At the moment, the jackpot prize is £500,000 for matching all five main numbers and the Thunderball. The lowest prize you could win is £3 for matching only the Thunderball.

If Thunderball did become a daily draw game, it would likely also come with changes to the ball pool, the prizes you can win, or the ticket price. In fact, exactly that happened when the Friday draw was introduced in May 2010, as the number of balls was increased from 34 to 39, the jackpot was doubled, and a new prize category was added for matching just the Thunderball. In the new Thunderball Daily draw there is a chance the top prize could become £1 million on offer like is seen in the Italian Millionday Lotto, a country in which Allwyn also holds a gambling licence.

What’s With the Magic?

Thunderball Daily is not the only game thought to be released by the National Lottery. Sources have also mentioned that a new raffle-type game called Magic Monday could soon be launched.

The name of the game does not seem to be randomly chosen and it looks like it’s part of a bigger campaign, with an emphasis on ‘magic’. In a press release published on 1st February 2024, when Allwyn officially took over the National Lottery as the new lottery operator, they used this exact word twice. This could be a clue about what’s coming next and Magic Monday could play an important part of their vision:

“Allwyn will build on the success of the last three decades and is committed to investing significantly over the coming 10 years to reignite the magic that lies at the heart of The National Lottery.”

Moreover, this was also supported by the statement given by Darren Henley, CEO of Arts Council England and Chair of The National Lottery Distributor Forum:

“Allwyn’s plans for a modernised National Lottery will help fund so many good causes in the long term, supporting us as we make the magic of The National Lottery even greater than before.”

New Operator, New Ways

The Thunderball Daily revamp would be a big change in the history of the National Lottery as it would be the first game offering daily draws. This would follow the trends set by many other countries in Europe and states in the USA where daily draws have become a recent trend to offer players more chances to win prizes. Moreover, the introduction of Magic Monday could also encourage more players to get involved in raffle-style games.

The National Lottery’s strategy seems to be a symbiosis between bringing back the magic of the lottery whilst also giving their participants modern ways to get involved. Recently, Allwyn began the next phase of retail investments with a National Lottery PPOS rollout trial.

Once more information is released, we will provide more updates about these two games.

Published: Friday 26th April 2024

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