For bingo halls across Europe, life has been tough, just like many industries. Their doors have been closed and like bars, restaurants, and other entertainment venues from bowling alleys to football stadiums, it?s been a real push just to stay afloat.
In stark contrast though, the online world of bingo is absolutely booming, and in time it could help contribute to a thriving scene in halls across Europe too. As millions of people across Europe have looked towards mobile and online gaming to quell the appetite for entertainment, bingo has welcomed record numbers, with some brands enjoying an increase of players from up to a third. There’s a number of reasons for this, but in the main it’s largely down to a diverse offering that appeals to a wide range of audiences.
There are a number of mobile bingo games that have you on the edge of your seat these days, with the likes of slingo bingo and 52-card bingo being fast-paced variants that are helping to appeal to a brand new audience.
Think of a bingo player and you’d likely think of a woman in her 60s, but that couldn’t be further from the truth today, with 75% of bingo players in the UK now under the age of 44, with an increase in younger males now playing the game. And they are proving lucrative customers too.
Over 75% of these newfound customers are spending as much as £50 each month, and it’s creating a thriving online bingo landscape which doesn’t look like slowing down. It’s really stood out in comparison to console gaming and other mobile apps and has successfully appealed to a much wider smartphone audience.
Over three billion people own a smartphone worldwide, which is a huge marketspace that bingo can tap into, and it’s certainly doing that in an industry worth billions. It’s now believed that the split between online and offline play is now at around 50/50, although 2020 will certainly skew those numbers in favour of online. It’s what happens next though which could really see the game conquer Europe.
While online bingo is on a positive trajectory, offline bingo has struggled in more recent years. The increase in players online is starting to have a positive impact on bingo halls though. During the brief period in the UK when they opened in 2020, bingo halls welcomed an increased number of players aged 25-35 and that provides plenty of hope that a new audience will continue to land in bingo halls once they’ve reopened fully over the next few months too.
Of course, we will have to see whether that happens. Bingo halls will be competing against the likes of bars, nightclubs, and many other areas of entertainment where they hadn’t previously. It’s expected that bingo halls will be part of the bingo boom though and as we move back into normality, it’s a game many more of us both young and old will be making the most of.
