Bingo – Beating the Recession

February 20, 2010 Gala Bingo, Offers

Written by Laura (February 20, 2010 at 1:07 pm)

It was a bit of a shocker for all when Gala Bingo announced they are closing their Camberwell club this Sunday (February 21^st) – Especially since it was only January when everyone thought all would be well in the world of Gala Bingo; after being bailed out by American Apollo Investment Corporation.

Last year was a long stretch for many of the UK’s bingo clubs, not just Gala Bingo – Independent operators in particular feeling the brunt of the smoking ban, a failing economy and more taxes. On the other hand, it has been all guns blazing in the last year for online bingo operators. However, of late the UK online operators have noticed a levelling out in the figures with regards to new sign ups on the whole – which could indicate two things (among others!) 1- The market has become effectively saturated and those who are going to sign up have already done so 2- The economy is getting worse and people simply do not have the budget to join in with the games.

So is the market saturated?  Have the operators effectively run out of players? While new sites are popping up the surge has definitely slowed down for some: Many of these smaller operators either disappearing or being taken over by the ‘big boys’. Even the bigger sites that managed to make the long haul have become so consolidated that certain ‘big brands’ do seem to be monopolising the world of online bingo. Therefore offers are pretty much becoming the same all around which doesn’t do much to encourage players to move from their favourite site – especially when loyalty bonuses are on the up and up.  Often it can be more economical to just stay put.

If you check out the forums then many players are complaining that their budgets simply are not meeting their urge to play – so what does that mean? Is the economy getting worse and people simply do not have the budget to join in with the games? Or are the games getting more expensive and the bonuses smaller? Of course the Christmas spend must have had an effect on the budget and with the cold spell in the UK heating bills must be chewing up the bank balance at a rate of knots. Together they are sure to slow down the pace, at least just a little. So all in all there could still be trouble on the horizon. Even so, it is still predicted that the UK online industry will yield around £1.5Billion in the next two years.

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