Behind The UK Bingo Boom: 36.5% Of People Now Only Play Bingo Online

The bingo world is changing. According to the latest market data, 38.5% play bingo in person, and 36.5% play bingo online. 25% of people play across both verticals, showing that as time goes on, the gap isn’t just closing, the two playing styles are merging to create one unified experience. There are a lot of reasons for this, some of which can be found below.

Bingo Halls are Going More Digital

As time goes on, more and more bingo halls are becoming digitised. Enhancements include investing in self-service kiosks for bookings and high-definition displays. Electronic bingo tablets are also being more widely used, over paper sheets, to try and be more environmentally-friendly. More and more traditional bingo halls are also using upgraded Wi-Fi registration terminals as a way to speed up the process for those visiting.

These upgrades have made a huge difference to the experience and helped to open so many doors for those who want to play bingo but in a more modern format. For those who favour the pen and paper variant, there is always the option of using traditional bingo dabbers, but moves like this help to show how, over time, the gap is being bridged.

Online Sites are Rapidly Growing

Online bingo sites are also undergoing a period of rapid growth. Part of this comes down to the sheer number of bingo games there are to choose from. If you go onto any UK bingo site you will see many titles available to play. Titles range from Clover Rollover Bingo, Cash Cubes, Route 75 Bingo, and even Speedy Bingo.

With so much choice, the digital world has helped to expand the appeal offered with a traditional bingo room, but with more features and round-the-clock playing opportunities. With 36.5% of people now choosing to play bingo solely online, and with 5% of the UK population playing bingo regularly, it’s evident that the online world has influenced traditional bingo just as much as traditional bingo has inspired digital variants.

Right now, there’s only a gap of roughly 2% between the people who play solely online and those who play solely in-person. As time goes on, it would not be surprising to see this gap close even more, as traditional bingo rooms become more digitised, and as the online world begins to better replicate traditional bingo rooms as technology advances. Moves like this not only show what an exciting time it is for the world of bingo, but also how much growth opportunity there is in the UK specifically.

With the UK’s entertainment sector booming as a whole right now, it’s not alarming to see that we are seeing a sharp rise in bingo’s popularity. The media sector in England is set to surpass £100 billion in revenue this year and could well reach £120 billion by the year 2028. This is all very positive news and goes to show that even with entertainment preferences leaning into more digital formats, traditional entertainment is following suit and thriving as a result.