Szerencsejáték Zrt begins ‘transparency reset’ under Hungary FM watch

Szerencsejáték Zrt, Hungary’s state-owned gambling monopoly, will overhaul its current marketing structure. The state-owned firm aims to improve public engagement and increase transparency around funding and the distribution of sponsorships and grants. This process has seen Szerencsejáték Zrt end its long-standing relationship with Budapest agency Lounge Group, electing instead to proceed with a multi-agency structure to deliver its marketing, PR communications and media planning for lottery and sports betting. For the remainder of 2026, Szerencsejáték Zrt will host three ‘invitation-only’ tenders to select its new marketing agencies. Participating agencies will initially pitch for “cover contracts” that may be renewed on an annual basis. Szerencsejáték Zrt’s long-term plan is to move to a trusted agency model based on new fixed contracts. The short-term placements are intended to establish the effectiveness of Szerencsejáték Zrt’s new multi-agency structure. Agencies will be assessed against pre-defined professional criteria, with opportunities to ask questions related to Szerencsejáték Zrt’s operations and civic mandate as Hungary’s largest donor to sporting, cultural and civic projects. Accounts from 2025 detailed the company generating more than €3bn (£2.6bn) in annual revenue and contributing around €447m in taxes and regulatory payments. Hungary new FM keeps watch András Kármán – Hungary FM The structure and operations of Szerencsejáték Zrt have come under the scrutiny of the new TISZA government, which has undertaken a sweeping restructuring of the operator’s board and senior leadership following Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s landslide April election victory. Finance Minister, András Kármán, is currently undertaking a mandate to review all state-owned institutions, seeking to eliminate political influence, cronyism and preferential treatment associated with the former Fidesz government of Viktor Orbán. In July, Kármán announced the appointment of Marcell Olajos as the new Chairman of Szerencsejáték Zrt, replacing Zoltán Guller, a former senior tourism official under the Fidesz administration. Kármán subsequently removed all remaining board members of Szerencsejáték Zrt. The shake-up drew criticism from outgoing members, who accused the Finance Minister of engaging in the same politically motivated practices and cronyism that the new government had pledged to eradicate. In response, Kármán maintained that the changes were necessary to enable an fair and transparent review of Szerencsejáték Zrt’s governance and the distribution of gambling revenues, with particular scrutiny placed on how sponsorships, grants and public-interest funding were allocated during the Fidesz era. Suspicious minds surround ZRT funding The governance review follows sustained scrutiny of Szerencsejáték Zrt’s sponsorship and grant distribution under the former Fidesz government. Hungarian media reported that significant sums of Szerencsejáték Zrt funding were directed towards organisations, companies and individuals connected to Fidesz and the wider NER — the System of National Cooperation established under Orbán. A 2024 Népszava analysis reported that approximately HUF 9.2bn (£21.6m) of more than HUF 15bn distributed between 2015-May 2024, around 61%, went to recipients it identified as having government, Fidesz or NER connections. Suspicions have also remained over Szerencsejáték funding awarded to organisations linked to Ráhel Orbán, Viktor Orbán’s daughter. Particular scrutiny has centred on the Hungarian Tourism Association Foundation (Magyar Turisztikai Szövetség Alapítvány), an organisation associated with projects and networks involving Ráhel Orbán, which received substantial funding from Szerencsejáték-linked sponsorship programmes. Under TISZA, the funding stream appears to have come to an abrupt halt following Hungary’s April election. According to an August investigation by HVG, Szerencsejáték Service Nonprofit Kft — the subsidiary responsible for distributing sponsorships and grants — recorded its last new sponsorship agreement on 9 April, with no new sponsorship or grant awards recorded in May or June. Kármán maintains that the clean-up of cronyism across Hungary’s political and state-owned institutions is necessary to help Magyar kick-start Hungary’s economy, which has languished at the bottom of the EU’s growth rankings for four consecutive years.