Was your card marked? The first-ever National Bingo Day took place on June 27th, with players from around the world indulging in the game they love. It may appear gimmicky on the surface, yet the event is bound to have a significant effect on the sector.
After all, it’s new and novel and has already raised awareness of bingo since the event happened days ago. Here’s why there is the potential for a shift after NBD.
A Healthy Market Could Get Healthier
Every gamer knows that bingo went through a bad patch in the 90s. Thankfully, it bounced back in the 2010s after it embraced the internet. Today, the online sector online boasts staggering figures that were assumed impossible a decade ago. For instance, it generated almost $1 billion in revenue in the UK in 2020. This is partly due to the variety of offerings online operators offer, such as 90 and 75-ball bingo rooms, bingo slots, and bingo scratch cards. Plus, all of the aforementioned formats arereal money online bingo gameswith the opportunity to win big.
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The industry’s trajectory is impressive, but it isn’t going to stop any time soon because the demand for bingo services is increasing. Events like NBD only turn the attention to the most popular forms of the game, meaning they are bound to skyrocket in terms of internet traffic. The number of people who switched on their computers to play during NDB is a prime example because thousands of users competed for staggering giveaways, such as a two-night UK staycation break.
The online market is already wealthy, yet NBD could ensure it improves its yearly revenues in nations like the US and UK where the game is loved. Seeing as the internet has been a saving grace for a sector that once faced bankruptcy, it’s impossible to see this as anything other than positive, something suggested by the figures post-NBD. After all, it’s a win-win situation for the providers and customers.
Offline Bingo Should Receive a Kick Back
While bingo has flourished online, other areas of the game have struggled to keep up with the rapid evolution. Traditional forms of bingo, such as playing in halls and function rooms, aren’t in danger of going out of business, yet they need to cement their industry position. This is because the global gambling market is expected to growat a rate of 5.9%through 2022, most of which will be online.
Operators understand the importance of using both formats to increase the game’s market share. They supplement each other and shouldn’t compete. Therefore, NBD was designed to encourage more people to head to their local halls to play. This was highlighted by the number of promos and offers that centered around in-person attendance on June 27th, and the number of people who attempted to claim them.
Two booming sectors will only be healthy for the industry, so hopefully, the promotional element of NBD will come to fruition post-event and show customers the pros of mixing up their gameplay.
Source: Unsplash
Bingo Needs to Compete with Its Rivals
Sometimes it’s hard to tell which sectors bingo competes with. For example, the soccer tournament, Euro 2020, is taking place across Europe. At first glance, soccer and bingo aren’t linked, so there’s no problem. Unfortunately for the game, this isn’t true because betting companies provide various markets for the competition.
With the event dominating the wagering landscape currently, aswell as the TV ratingsthroughout the continent, bingo needs to shift the focus back to itself. Waging a war with sports is a challenge as they are beloved, yet NBD has highlighted the value of the industry to customers who may otherwise be tempted by rival events.
Alternatively, promoting NBD led to the prospect of using the soccer market to lure in custom. Once people are on the platform, the odds of funneling them to the bingo section of the website are much shorter. Soccer competitions are only the tip of the iceberg because the tactic is feasible across a range of events, which is why NBD is set to continue on June 27th for the foreseeable future. To answer the question in the title, the impact that NBD could have on bingo may be considerable. That’s because it’s promoted the game’s online and offline offerings while raising global awareness. We won’t know conclusively until all the elements of the event are codified, yet it appears on the surface that NBD was a huge success for bingo.