Tag Archives: internet bingo
Gala Bingo Considers Rescue Plan
It is no secret that land based bingo in the UK is in real trouble financially. The draconian national smoking ban hit bingo clubs hard and then came a rise in taxation. For some reason bingo is taxed at a higher rate than any other form of gaming. For gaming companies that operate internet bingo websites the passage of the internet gaming ban in the US caused a drastic drop in revenue and a serious decline in publicly traded gaming stocks. A recent Reuters report states that UK bingo industry giant Gala Coral Group is presently saddled with about 2.7 billion pounds of debt.
Gala was forced to let hundreds of valued employees go and close many of its popular bingo halls across the UK. In 2009 reports of gala bingo club closures became common in the press. Gala also operates a highly successful internet bingo website. Without private investment Gala faces a bleak future indeed. A few years ago when reports said Gala was foundering US gaming giant Harrahs made a bid for shares of Gala. At the time Gala was able to repel any hostile takeover.
In November it was reported that private equity firm Blackstone made a £300 million pound bid for 40 to 60% of the shares. Despite denials from Gala it has been reported that Gala is actively seeking private equity investors to stave off collapse of the company. A recent report from news agency Reuters said the bingo giant had been approached by US private equity firm Apollo. Apollo submitted a plan to Gala which said Apollo would pay 250 million pounds ($405 million USD) for half of the company. The conditions of the Apollo deal say that 250 million pounds would be paid to Galas senior lenders and junior lenders would receive the other half of Gala.
Gala has entered the world of internet bingo with some success. Gala provides players with a generous bingo deposit bonus and free play options. Gala also offers a bingo sign up bonus to players. Like most other UK based bingo sites Gala has increased the size of its bingo bonuses to compete with others in the internet bingo industry.
Galas situation highlights the troubles of the brick and mortar UK bingo industry. Internet bingo, on the other hand, remains a thriving and growing industry. Internet bingo has defied the global recession and remains profitable for internet bingo providers. Gala may want to consider focusing on its online operations.
Free Bingo and Free Casino Games
Internet bingo remains one of the most popular forms of gambling on both sides of the Atlantic. The UK is now the worlds largest online bingo market and the industry even has its own trade association and lobbying group in the UK. Despite the ban on internet gambling many US residents continue to play internet bingo unmolested. There are several bingo sites that accept US players and offer various funding options. To attract new players bingo sites are offering bigger bonuses of various kinds, free bingo, and a huge assortment of casino games. Free casino games are also popular with online bingo players.
Bingo sites spend a significant amount of money on marketing of various kinds. In the UK and Europe it is common to see television ads for bingo sites and some of the advertisements have generated controversy. In fact there was a case in the UK where a television ad for a bingo site was banned on the basis of one complaint! A Tombola bingo ad generated a single complaint when a viewer expressed concern that the fairground theme in the ad would encourage underage gambling. . Bingo giants like Foxy Bingo, Gala Bingo, Sun Bingo and others routinely run television ads and some of these are very humorous and amusing. American players can view most of these ads on the popular video sharing website YouTube and can get a good idea of what kind of ads to expect when internet bingo becomes legal again in the United States. Unfortunately at the present time and kind of gambling advertising on television is a big no no in the US.
In addition to television ads bingo bonuses have been a very effective marketing tool. Most internet bingo websites now offer players significant bingo bonuses. Sign up and deposit bonuses are getting bigger and bigger and more bingo sites are offering a wider variety of games. Slot games are popular on bingo sites as are online blackjack, roulette, and video poker. Thanks to new software bingo sites are able to offer the same quality of slot games and video poker and blackjack as any Las Vegas casino. For free bingo games and free casino games do a quick Google search and the results will be surprising. No deposit bingo is another popular option and players can log on to a site and play instantly without having to download any games. Once the US re enters the bingo market the industry is set to explode!