Tag Archives: growth
Internet Bingo Continues Phenomenal Growth
Internet bingo continues its phenomenal growth in the UK and Europe. Recent industry expansions into Sweden and Spain have been very successful and the internet bingo industry continues to grow. In the UK the rapid growth of internet bingo has been driven by the national smoking ban which sent thousands of land based players online and high taxation which has closed many bingo halls throughout the country. Although the modern version of the game was introduced in the United States bingo became immensely popular in the UK following World War Two. Almost every English hamlet had its High Street bingo hall and industry giants such as Mecca and Gala Bingo added a touch of glamour to the game.
Internet bingo has attracted a new demographic and now the typical internet bingo player is a female 20 to 40 years old. Rapid industry expansion has created a competitive atmosphere which has benefitted players in many ways. Internet bingo websites are offering larger than ever jackpots and unprecedented player perks. Most bingo sites offer either a bingo sign up bonus or a deposit bonus and players can now easily double, or even triple, the size of their deposits. In Europe ewallet Paypal has re entered the gaming market and players can now use this highly reputable service for both deposits and payouts. In addition to traditional 75 ball bingo most European bingo websites offer 90 ball bingo which is popular in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.
The Internet bingo now has its own industry associations and holds annual meetings in London for industry representatives. Bullet Business, which hosts the annual bingo summit, reports that the internet bingo industry has “grown phenomenally.” In 2006 the first online bingo summit attracted 80 companies but just 12 months later had 180 companies attending. In 2009 the internet bingo summit attracted 350 participants and the numbers keep growing. According to Ravi Virpal, director of Bullet Business, online bingo has “grown in the national conscience” and says the annual bingo summit is “the pivotal point” for the industry.
The expansion of the internet bingo industry into Scandinavia has been well received among Swedish, Norwegian and Danish bingo players. Lars Bakken Elvsveen, an employee of Norsk Bingo AS said that Norwegians “have a great love for bingo.” In Sweden internet bingo has achieved instant popularity. Industry insider Dominic Mansour said that Sweden is a “key market” for internet bingo. He said the popularity is because of “the high internet penetration and propensity to play bingo” in Sweden. Industry experts expect continued growth and predict more expansion into European markets soon.
Bingo Worldwide
There is no doubt that the UK is the unofficial capital of bingo. The rise of the UK online bingo game can only be described as amazing. Bingo has become the leading form of online gambling in the UK played by all age ranges and vastly helped by the demise of live bingo and heavy advertising on all UK media. I will say though that bingo is not restricted to the UK only. America has an extremely strong live bingo presence although the online bingo scene has been stifled by the online gambling laws which class many of the existing online bingo sites as unlawful. Throughout the states though you will find thousands of bingo halls and if the online gambling laws are changed in the future there is sure to be a boom online.
Spain also has seen a massive surge in online bingo. Spain is only second to the UK for the growth of the online game. During 2008 there has been a major increase of Spanish online bingo sites fighting for the large volume of Spanish players. This has not gone unnoticed by the established UK online bingo giants and already Mecca have launched their own white label bingo site Bingo International which is strictly targeted at the Spanish market.
Italy has also seen rapid growth in the online bingo scene and is ranked third behind the UK and Spain. In many ways Italy is way behind but analyst predict strong growth in Italy during the next couple of year. Perhaps one of the surprising countries where bingo is popular is Japan. Japan has always had a thriving live bingo scene with thousands of bingo parlours throughout the country. As with the UK the game has transferred rapidly online creating a booming industry. The live game in Japan mirrors the live bingo scene in the UK where it is a very social event.
Australia and New Zealand also have a strong live bingo community and once again there seems to be growth in the online bingo scene. Australia has many bingo halls through the country as does New Zealand.
Many wonder why the UK has taken the lead in the online bingo world. My theory is this is simply due to a few factors. The main factor is that online gambling in the UK is fully legalised and regulated unlike online bingo in many other countries. Secondly the live bingo scene in the UK was badly hit by the smoking ban. In the UK you are no longer allowed to smoke in enclosed public areas and since the introduction of the smoking ban many players simply stopped playing live. Thirdly the credit crunch in the UK as hit everybody hard. The simple fact is that it is much cheaper to play bingo online than live and as you are playing against more players online the prize pools are vastly increased online. The final factor is the heavy promotion of online bingo by the UK media. Prime time TV is flooded with bingo commercial which are endorsed by well known celebs such as Katie Price and many others.