1994 - Enter The National Lottery

National Lottery draw on TV in 1994. AOP

Vernons witnesses a record rise in the number of pools players – a whopping 10 million every week. Just as the company hands out a win of £2,924,622 on a weekend, the National Lottery is inaugurated and takes the country by storm. A weekly televised draw is organised and bigger jackpots are advertised. Soon enough, the popularity of football pools substantially declines as players find themselves switching to the new and simpler National Lottery in hopes of winning that life-changing amount. Although this is not the end of football pools companies, it surely appears to be the beginning of their downfall. By 2006, the number of players would decrease from the peak of 10 million to 830,000 and to 700,000 by 2007.