The report, titled “Bingo – UK – April 2009″, examines the effect of the smoking ban has had on UK bingo halls and how much it has been affected by the economic downturn. It also looks at the extent to which online bingo has supplanted real world trips to bingo halls.

Bingo News has read the full Mintel bingo report and has picked out the following information as particularly interesting to online bingo players:

• The UK bingo hall industry has seen admissions and revenue decline since 2006: between 2006 and 2009, revenue fell by an estimated 26% in current price terms and admissions by 22%.
• Mintel’s consumer research shows that in January 2009, the proportion of players who had stopped visiting clubs due to the recession was 16% while only 10% have changed their spending patterns because of the smoking ban.
• 6% of club bingo players have played online and the proportion experimenting online is growing. “There is now a slow bleed of club players to the online world,” says the Mintel report.
• Gala Bingo and Mecca Bingo control 80% of revenues in UK bingo halls but their online presence is much weaker with an estimated combined 23% market share of the UK online bingo market. Sites like Crown Bingo and Foxy Bingo have established a major market position despite having no real world bingo hall operations.
• The change in the rateable value of bingo halls announced in December 2008 will provide a substantial financial benefit to bingo hall operators, especially Gala Bingo and Mecca Bingo. The backdated settlement, to reflect the introduction of the Gambling Act, will see an English bingo hall with a current rateable value of £100,000 have this reduced to £85,000 with effect from 1 July 2007 and then to £77,500 with effect from 1 September 2007.
• The Mintel report warns that Gala’s withdrawal from the National Game could lead to the break up of the National Game, with potentially devestating consequences for smaller bingo operators.
• The report predicts that online bingo and mobile bingo looks to have the greatest opportunities in the sector, at the expense of the existing incumbents who have major issues in terms of the age and social grouping of their player databases.
• The report suggests smaller and medium sized operators may soon be forced to merge or make strategic alliances in order to maintain their postion in the UK market.

The highly detailed 78 page report is a great introduction to the UK bingo industry for those who are not already involved and looking for a swift guide to the complexities and economics of a fast changing sector.

Bingo UK 2009 is available from Mintel priced £1500 – further information or purchase of the report available from Mintel.

The player from the Carlton Bingo Hall in East Kilbride celebrated with haggis and recitals of Burns’ poetry.

Carlton Bingo general manager Bill Wilkes told the East Kilbride News: “It was the perfect Burns night. Everyone paid £10 and that included a Burns supper and some entertainment, including some of Rabbie’s poems.

“Then for the lady to win the big prize was wonderful. It’s the best we’ve had for a long time and we hope she enjoys the money.”

The woman, who is in her 30s, asked not to be named.

The woman, who was playing at Workington’s Opera Bingo Hall in Cumbria, hit the national and regional zone prizes, scooping £5,682.88. But she thought she had just won the club prize of  £110.16.

She only learned the good news when the club manager called her the next day to let her know about her good fortune.

The win was the third big recent win at Cumbria’s bingo clubs. Managers at both the Whitehaven and Penrith Opera Bingo clubs recently announced that two players had picked up £38,000 on the National Game.

Opera Bingo marketing manager, Charlotte Kennedy, told the local News and Star newspaper: “It’s great news to have three big winners in such a short space of time and for each of our clubs to have their chance is even better.

“This recent win amounts to five national game wins in just over seven months, which is fantastic.

“We certainly seem to be having a lucky run at Opera Bingo at the moment and certainly these three lucky ladies are in for a very happy Christmas.”

Players normally need to call a Full House on the number 90 and be the first person to get a house across all the bingo halls in the UK – a pretty difficult task.

But on 21 December all players who call a full house in under 55 calls will take a share of the platinum jackpot. The National Game have guaranteed the jackpot will be at least £250,000 and it could be a lot higher.

To win the prize you need to go to a real world bingo hall to play. Most clubs in the UK offer the National Game, with the exception of Gala Bingo who recently took the commercial decision to opt out of the National Game.