Should bingo venues embrace more technology?

At one point in the 2000s it appeared as if bingo would go the same way as the Apple Newton, floppy discs and acid wash jeans. The smoking ban and changing demographics had put bingo on the road to ruin.

The sight of bingo halls closing their doors for the last time became so commonplace that it wasn’t even newsworthy anymore. Then came the rise of online gambling, riding to the rescue to take bingo online and kick start its revival.

During the mid-2000s there were reportedly less than one million registered bingo players in the UK (a figure that was dropping all the time). Now, thanks to the rise of great online bingo providers like Costa Bingo there are almost five million regular players in the country.

This online popularity has even spilled over into the land-based sector, where classic bingo halls are benefitting from the game’s resurgence. Could classic bingo halls do more to increase their appeal to modern bingo players? Read on to find out.

Why play at a bingo hall?

When the online sector is so cutting edge, why would anyone possibly want to play at a bricks and mortar bingo hall?

Well the answer is quite simple – sociability. No matter how technologically advanced online chat rooms are, they are no substitute for sitting face to face with your friends and playing your favourite game.

In addition to that, visiting a bingo hall is a night out, it is an event in the calendar and it is something to look forward to like a day out in retail parks amongst any other activities. Bingo fans may play online all week but still look forward to actually heading out the door and visiting their local bingo hall every Saturday, but could that experience be enhanced by technology?

Modern technology

Buying bingo cards and marking your numbers of with a dabber is all very quaint, but is it something bingo halls should be making players do in 2022? Perhaps not.

Online players are given virtual bingo cards which they can have automatically filled in by the AI without having to worry about dabbing them off or missing a number themselves. This is something most land-based bingo halls should look to implement.

It needn’t be expensive either. Players could be given a tablet on arrival that emulates the online experience, or they could be directed to terminals where they could play.

This would not only allow patrons the opportunity to chat more and socialise, but it would help to encourage online players into bingo halls as the experience wouldn’t be too dissimilar to what they are used to.

Online linking

One of the best events in the bingo calendar used to be when the national halls would come together to have a huge game with eye watering prize amounts. Why then, do bingo halls not think about linking up with online providers to increase prize money and run huge, national competitions?

Or conversely, what about a great online provider investing in a series of land-based bingo halls to not only dominate the online market but the offline one as well?

Currently we live in a world where both the online and offline sectors are pitted against one another in competition, wouldn’t it be better if they could work together?

Bingo variants

If every bingo hall in the country had online terminals and tablets, then the fare of game on offer could be vastly increased. Of course, the main draw would always be the game of bingo that was being called out on the floor.

Terminals and tablets though could be used to allow players to try out different variants of bingo, or even different games. Increasing the amount of options on offer would make land-based bingo that little bit more appealing, especially in a time when consumers and customers are used to getting whatever they want at the tip of their fingers.

In summary

The balance of power has shifted from the offline sector to the online sector over the course of the last 15 years or so. That isn’t linear though and it certainly isn’t unstoppable. Land-based bingo halls aren’t powerless in the face of online bingo, they do have tools at their disposal to redress the balance.

The first step towards wrestling back some market share is to embrace technology, taking what is good from online bingo and adding it to the offline bingo experience. Then, with a more solid footing, land-based venues could focus on building upon their USP.

Selling the idea of sociability, making a night out at the bingo something to remember, something to saviour and something to look forward to. Will all of this happen though? The chances look slim.

Whilst the online sector has always prided itself in being at the forefront of change, the same cannot be said for our land-based bingo halls.