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Where is bingo headed in 2013


Written by Donna Parker, 14th May 2013

Figures recently released by the company that owns Mecca Bingo - the UK's biggest land based bingo business showed a poor start to trading in 2013. Rank Group announced that like-for-like revenue is down marginally on last year and blames the poor spring weather in the UK for the downturn in profits. Suggesting that people preferred to stay warm in doors rather than venture out into the cold to play bingo in one of their many Mecca Bingo Halls.

Although they announced that revenue was down only 1% in total, rather more alarming is figures showed that overall customer numbers fell by 7%. Rank are suggesting this is down to the poor weather but can they really blame what is now becoming a consistent trend of falling customer numbers year on year to our land based bingo venues?

Mecca Bingo Hall

The fact is, that times are changing and more and more fanatical bingo fans are ditching the traditional land based offerings and migrating to the online environment in order to get their bingo fix. Online bingo sites are a 24/7 operation and so available at any time of the day, anywhere and offer much more variety.

At this years annual Bingo Association meet, this very topic was discussed between members of the BA and MPs. Including that fact that Bingo is one of the most heavily taxed gambling sectors. Something that is with no doubt contributing to the land based downfall.

Miles Baron, CEO of the Bingo Association said "We are delighted to have held another successful parliamentary reception on bingo. The number of MPs who have attended has grown year on year and highlights the growing support we are gaining from within Westminster to tackle our tax rate."

However, I fail to see how reducing the tax rate for Bingo is going to change the beast that is the world of online gaming. At its current pace, it can only be a matter of time before all land based venues for bingo become extinct and it becomes exclusively an online only game. After all, online bingo businesses are paying a different rate of tax as most are based overseas. So it's only natural that bingo bosses will look to make as many tax savings as possible by shutting down their land based venues and investing in an online platform rather than maintaining bingo halls with staff.

The next few months is going to be a telling time for the land based bingo industry and if they can't convince the government to reduce the higher than normal tax rate on them then it could be the final nail in the coffin for what has been a great british institute for many years. However, as they say "as one door closes another opens" and the move to a more online world for bingo will provide opportunity and jobs for the digital sector as investment in online gambling continues to grow at a steady pace.

About the Author
Donna Parker is a stay at home mum and online bingo fanatic. Her site www.top-10-bingo.co.uk has helped thousands of users find the top bingo websites since 2009.