Bingo’s Increasing Importance To The UK Economy

Bingo, as both a game and a pasttime, has been around for centuries and is still popular today. This is by and large due to it being an adaptable game which has evolved over the years, embracing the latest technologies along the way. From being played in church halls to specifically built bingo venues, then into the online world and now on mobile, bingo has more than held its own.

Bingo’s impact continues to have a hugely positive effect on the UK economy too, with the game said to generate in excess of £1 billion a year. This will come as no surprise to those who follow the growth mFortune and other UK bingo brands alike. However, when you consider that bingo isn’t recognised as an on-trend game type or past time, it’s quite a remarkable achievement. It may also be surprising to learn that while both Netflix and Spotify are two very popular and on-trend platforms, their combined turnover is said to be £750m, which is less than that of bingo.

As bingo is able to be played in a multitude of ways which includes in person at bingo halls, online, on mobile and through social media platforms. This gives it a huge combined audience to reach, and according to reports by Midia, around 5.6 million turn up and play on a regular basis. Again, this is a very impressive feat when you consider that Amazon has around 4.8 million subscribers and less than 4 million stream tracks from Apple Music.

Speaking about their findings, Mark Mulligan, managing director at Midia said, “Bingo is still relevant to the British public.” He went on to add, “Mobile and online playing is becoming an increasingly popular complement to being in a bingo hall. However, it can’t just exist inline, the halls have the crucial social ingredients to nurture a positive outlook in life which is found more commonly in bingo players than the total population.”

The social aspect, as mentioned above, is not only vital to bingo players but to the success of the game itself. Bingo has always been a social game, and even when players are logging on to enjoy bingo action on their computer, tablet, or smartphone, they can still enjoy the social side of the game thanks to chat boxes and the like. It has proven to be a great way to beat loneliness, with many players making the trip down to their local bingo venue for the social aspect alone.

There’s also some belief that while playing bingo online, on mobile and through social media platforms such as Facebook is exciting and somewhat innovative, many players head to bingo halls to escape the social media driven world we now live in. But for whatever the reason, bingo has continued to flourish as it has presence on a variety of platforms which in turn caters to audiences all over the world.