The decades’ old social game of bingo may now be one of the top performing verticals in the global iGaming industry, as well as having timeless appeal as an obscure pop culture party game, but for anyone old enough to have coherent memories of 1999, it’s a game that was on its last legs as the century began.
In the late 90s, going down the bingo hall was something that your gran would do, not city executives. These days of course it’s a different story, as the medium in which the game is played has changed as much as the demographics playing it.
So, how did this happen? To answer, we’ll need to go back in time 60 years…
Shifts in generational popularity
During the swinging sixties bingo, believe it or not, became one of the most popular social activities in the country with adult players of all ages, not just octogenarians. Throughout the decade there were moments when the total number of British people going to the bingo hall actually exceeded those who were watching England football games. By the time the mid-60s came along, there were a total of 14 million registered players of the game across England, Wales and Scotland, with an average of around 150,000 people visiting their local bingo halls every day.
Fast forward 3 decades and bingo’s nationwide popularity dropped to just over a tenth of what it was during its heyday.
Factors in the decline
A number of factors contributed to this, not least the change in entertainment that the start of the digital era brought about. When the game was at its peak, there really weren’t that many leisure activities that people across the generations could do together, so bingo was right up there with going to the pub and a trip to the pictures. During the 90s, leisure activities became much more screen based.
Then there was the competition element. Winning £50 in a bingo game was a big deal in 1960, but as more and more gaming and competition opportunities were made possible by television and the internet, it couldn’t compete against the hundreds of thousands worth of prizes in, say, the National Lottery for instance.
Ironically, one of the key reasons why bingo almost died out eventually became its saviour – iGaming.
Online gaming explodes
Since the early noughties, online real money gaming has exploded in popularity thanks to the plethora of online casinos and poker platforms available. During the early days of the industry, bingo was largely ignored by those early investors and operators and, as they pulled in the same people who would’ve once participated in the social game, it was left to dwindle.
Eventually, however, savvy operators realised there was an untapped market that had huge potential in bingo and a wave of investment soon followed, which meant most of the leading real money gaming platforms in the world now have some element of bingo competition in their offering.
The secrets to its new digital success? Well, it’s undeniably a compulsive game to play and in addition to this, the wealth of offers provided by online platforms, such as no deposit bonuses and free play opportunities, makes it appealing to those who have no prior experience of playing the game.
The widespread availability of online and mobile bingo games also brings it to the attention of younger, more affluent players, especially those who already participate in more ‘serious’ iGaming activities, like online slots or online poker tournaments
