Is the internet to blame for failing bingo halls?

19th August 2009 12:41 AM

It has been widely anticipated for some time that the rapid growth in online bingo sites would have a huge financial impact on land bingo. But the fear has intensified since the world economy went into recession affecting every business and organisation globally. However, it seems that online bingo sites are weathering the storm reasonably well.

This is not the case for the many bingo halls around the UK.  Mecca Bingo was one of those that noticed a downturn in the first half of 2008 as well as bingo hall closures, but the comparable figures introduced for the 1st half of 2009 seem to indicate that they have now turned a corner, but are making the online bingo side of the business a priority.

Sadly, bingo halls all over the country are losing their fight for survival. One of the latest casualties is the Orion Bingo Hall in Cleveleys near Blackpool.  Running than more than 40 years, a rapid downturn in attendance has left the club struggling to turn over a profit and it has finally chosen to close its doors. But how much of the downturn in the bingo halls profits is down to the growth of online bingo sites and how much can be blamed on the state of the economy?

Well it seems that the decline in numbers began when the new smoking ban was introduced in July 2008, not only were the small independent halls struggling to keep their heads above water but the big players like Gala Bingo and Mecca had to close some of their halls all over the country. More and more people were moving away from the halls and those that could were turning to online bingo sites to play bingo at. So it is difficult to say whether the rapid growth of online bingo would have been so, had the smoking ban not been introduced. But whatever the reason, it seems that the recession has had some kind of effect on how much people gamble, but where they gamble seem more likely to be down to the smoking ban.

The recent take over of Cashcade  by Party Gaming sees bingo sites such as Foxy Bingo, Think Bingo, Cheeky Bingo, Bingo Scotland and Little Big Bingo moving over in a multi million pound deal and it is widely expected that with £44.9m net revenue generated by cascade in 2008 will provide Party Gaming with the footing for a significant share of the $1.5 billion global online bingo market. It remains to be seen how this takeover will affect the other bingo sites within the UK and whether there is room for such dominance.

Written by Hannah Jones

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