With online bingo sites launching left, right and center – will traditional bingo halls survive? Unfortunately, this isn’t great news for people who use bingo games as a form of raising money for charity.
As well as new bingo sites being launched all the time – there is competition from casinos too! Mobile bingo and casino sites were introduced. All of this coupled with the smoking ban – there is no real reason for people to head out to a bingo hall or charity event when they can relax and do what they want from the comfort of their own home. Unlike bingo halls – bingo brands can lure players in with no-deposit cash and tonnes of free bingo treats and offerings which will be much less expensive for players.
What you also need to think about are the prizes. With online bingo sites making so much money – they can afford to offer much bigger and better prizes to roomies, making them hard to resist. Due to the surge in online bingo, revenue generated at bingo halls has decreased substantially – so much so that bingo halls are trying everything they can to keep themselves afloat by introducing a higher level of technology so players don’t need to mark bingo tickets off and can try to up their prizes – but again an online bingo site can be difficult to compete with.
An example of this is a bingo hall in Ontario where traditional bingo tables cater to the older generation of greybeards and the blue rinse set, but there are six brand-new computers arranged in a circle for players to use. These new devices allow you to go off for a break and then come back and catch up on your numbers – so similar to online – you can play without actually being there. As well, the hall has introduced free buffets to encourage players to play in their hall. There’s no doubt about it – freebies do tend to go a long way.
The computer aspect of it is called “EBingo” and the bingo industry is looking to roll that out to other halls and would include slot machines, live entertainment and more. Will this be enough to revive the traditional bingo hall? Who knows?
