James Walker explores the phenomenon of internet bingo…
Bingo has been a popular global pastime for many years. After originating in Italy in the 16th century, an estimated 60 million people now regularly play this simple game of chance, where numbers are called and cards quickly marked.
For a long time, bingo tended to be thought of as a game played by older women. However, the internet has changed all this. Many companies are currently focusing their marketing strategies on the female gamer, and this has led to a proliferation of internet bingo sites, which are rejuvenating the game’s universal appeal and attracting more and more members. Importantly, online bingo players tend to be younger than those typically found in the local bingo club.
While online gaming today is skewed towards male gamblers in terms of usage and revenues at a rate or around 70/30, the female gaming community is growing at a phenomenal rate. True, males still dominate the lucrative online poker market, but research has shown that women gamble more frequently and for longer periods of time on internet casino sites than men.
“The female market is absolutely vital,” says Ben Starr, spokesman for Herotech, which supports leading UK online bingo brands as well as maintaining its own bingo software and portals. “Although they are still under the radar when compared to the male dominated poker market, female gamers are in front of a computer more and, in coming years, this will only increase.”
Although the odds of winning in online bingo depend upon the number of members playing at a given time, a return financially always remains unlikely. However, even though the odds remain stacked against the players, online bingo markets are growing at an extremely fast pace. A recent survey, cited by online portal Play-Internet-Bingo.com, showed that of the three million land-based bingo players in the UK alone, around 50,000 now play online.
Just why has internet bingo taken off in the female market? Many within the industry agree that the online format works well for a number of reasons. Tyler Schwartz, communications specialist for Parlay Entertainment, says: “In general, women have always preferred games that are low-risk, easy to play, and that have a degree of social interaction. Bingo answers all of those needs. Anyone can play and it doesn’t take any particular skill.”
GamArena managing director Andrew Pegler elaborates on this point, stating: “Bingo is a pure chance game, so that there is no pressure on the player to make the ‘right’ decision.”
The idea that women prefer simple, low-risk games of chance over more higher stake skill games is consistent with the recent eCOGRA Global Online Gambler Survey findings, which highlighted a number of gender differences in motivations for gambling. In terms of the female gaming psyche, women’s preference to ‘escape’ or relax through gambling is consistent with long, lower-risk gambling sessions.
Although playing online may initially seem far removed from the informal ‘friends and family’ atmosphere that is commonly associated with traditional bingo halls, it soon becomes apparent that internet bingo has its own unique set of advantages - all of which are geared explicitly towards the female gaming psyche.
Online bingo tears down geographic borders and allows individuals to play live against other people around the world. “We’re seeing women from all over the world playing online bingo. It’s truly a global game that’s played in a variety of regional variations,” says Schwartz. In addition, internet bingo operators have made a concerted effort to giving online players a traditional bingo hall atmosphere, with some going as far as adding real crowd noise in the background. Perhaps more importantly, online bingo sites are open around the clock and can be played in the convenience of one’s own home.
While all of the above makes online bingo an attractive and convenient format, the most important element of any successful online bingo site lies within the chat function. Most bingo websites contain a ‘multi chat’ window, which sits beside the main bingo screen and allows players to talk to each other throughout the game. Chat hosts - or moderators - help recreate the atmosphere of the bingo hall, and also conduct side games as the bingo numbers are being called.
“The community within online bingo is key,” notes Starr. “Women make lasting friendships and they log on to chat and have a laugh with their newfound online friends. Bingo is a very popular pastime and when you bring this to the housewife - instead of forcing the housewife to go to the bingo, you have a winning combination.”
From a player’s perspective, online bingo tops its offline sister due to the fact that in normal halls you are not supposed to talk once the game has begun. In terms of internet bingo, however, talking is actually encouraged. And with the auto daub function, players do not even need to keep an eye on their cards, leaving them free to converse with their fellow ‘roomies.’
Indeed, when this journalist logged on to the popular ThinkBingo.com, he received a plethora of greetings, and was quickly invited to join in the game with a few “GL” (good luck) messages thrown in to boot.
Successful online bingo sites foster a sense of community and interaction between players. From an operator’s perspective, chat functions also act as an extremely effective retention tool, aimed especially at the predominantly female audience. ThinkBingo.com was the UK’s first standalone bingo site, launching in April 2004. It now has an unparalleled reputation in the industry and among players as a result of its close community and member-led approach. Today, together with its two sister sites, Think Bingo Plus and Bingo Scotland, Think Bingo is one of the world’s leading online bingo groups.
The site’s tagline - ‘Join the fun, Join the family’ - is accompanied by an equally cordial welcome message: “Meet our friendly chat moderators and community - play chat games, quizzes and bingo tournaments.” The sense of camaraderie does not end here either; as a means of introducing less internet-savvy players into this community, many top sites contain a ‘Bingo Lingo’ section, which allows gamblers to be quickly able to tell the difference between 1TG (‘one to go’) and WTG (‘way to go!’), and a whole host of other acronyms. Thus, rather than excluding new users, these acronyms ultimately serve to include players within their newfound community.
Delving deeper still, it becomes apparent that online bingo operators do not stop here in creating a female-focused community feel. Galabingo.co.uk, part of leading European gaming operator Gala Coral Group, describes itself as not just a bingo site, but an “online club” that offers bingo, chat and other fun games. The company has even created a bingo magazine, Gala Buzz, which bear strong similarities to other popular women’s magazines. It seems now that operators are not only attempting to get women to buy into communities, but entire lifestyles.
Interestingly, out of the estimated 50,000 regular online bingo players in the UK, 90 per cent of these are below the age of 50, dispelling the myth that bingo is for the older generation, and marking a significant shift in the traditional demographic.
So, whereas before organisations would target older ladies’ pensions, they can now focus upon a much broader, computer-savvy audience - with more income.
Jonathan Parke, a psychologist at the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University and chief investigator in the eCOGRA survey, noted that “gambling today has fewer stigmas among the general population, and in particular for women, owing in part to gradual introduction and acceptance of various forms of gambling, such as lotteries.”
Operators have honed in on one particularly strong marketing method that serves to pull down any preconceived barriers - celebrity endorsement. Bingo websites are increasingly utilising celebrities to be the ‘face’ of their brand. Online gaming software provider Cashcade’s FoxyBingo.com uses Katie Price, the British television personality otherwise known as Jordan, to boost its appeal to younger women. Sharon Osbourne is the face of Galabingo.co.uk and her image as the ‘ultimate housewife,’ through various reality television shows and UK supermarket adverts, is an extremely powerful tool indeed.
Research has shown that the Scottish smoking ban has led to the closure of several of the country’s bingo halls and a burgeoning of online bingo sites. According to Onlinebingo.co.uk, Scottish bingo fans hit by the smoking ban in March 2006 have been ‘flocking’ to online bingo sites so they can still smoke while playing. Indeed, since the ban came into effect, several bingo halls have been forced to close in Scotland after some operators purportedly saw takings drop by over a quarter.
In that time, Scottish bingo websites, where players can play and smoke in their own homes have seen an astonishing 400 per cent rise in membership. “When the smoking ban started, we didn’t imagine our membership would increase so rapidly,” says Bingo Scotland spokesman Iain Briggs. “But as players have the freedom to smoke where they play online bingo in the comfort of their own home, it makes sense that online bingo websites have become even more popular.”
Will this trend follow through to England when the smoking ban comes into effect in July? “To some extent I think it will,” says Starr. “However, the Scottish ban has taught many English bingo halls a valuable lesson and has allowed them to prepare. I think some closures are inevitable but not to the level that we saw in Scotland - halls are ready with smoking shelters and remote keypads. The online bingo world will most definitely have to be prepared though - players will quickly realise that they will be able to smoke, chat with friends and play bingo without leaving the house.”
Conversely, Simon Collins, commercial director for Cashcade, argues the impending smoking ban will have no significant effect on online gaming. “Many offline players are yet to discover online,” he says. “The smoking ban will not directly lead players to the discovery of the online opportunity. Cashcade’s current female market is much younger as compared to offline, and we drive adoption by substantial media promotional activity.”
Schwartz says that Parlay expects to see a surge of new online bingo players once the ban is enforced, but notes that the online gaming sector in general tends to be less busy in the summer months, so the full effects will “probably not be felt until late August or September.”
Smoking bans aside, many within the industry agree that bingo will continue to grow and mature into an even more lucrative business.
The idea of branding was a recurring future theme, and as big names such as Virgin, Yahoo! and Tesco come into the market, it is likely that the online bingo sector will become much more competitive - with more sites and rooms within those sites.
“Online bingo merging with television programmes and formats will happen more,” says Pegler. “Bigger, life-changing jackpots will become more important from a marketing perspective, but they are a result of high liquidity.” Touching on an important point, Starr claims that jackpots will ultimately become larger. “However I think the successful sites will be the ones that keep smaller communities.”
Schwartz argues that we are likely to see online bingo becoming the anchor for entire social networking communities. Indeed, this sense of ‘community,’ which appears to have been so important in the rise of online bingo, was a recurring future theme for many others within the industry. Eget marketing manager Teija Rasanen says: “Community features and networks will continue to play a big part in internet bingo, and we are continuously coming out with new products,” adds Rasanen. “Our latest bingo release is Triple bingo, played in three rounds. The game is fast-paced as there are less numbers involved, and the idea comes from the speed of slot machines.” As consumers continue to become more and more time-pressed, it’s logical that the simplicity and speed of internet bingo fits into their busy lives more than a night out at the bingo hall.
Parlay Entertainment recently launched BingoBets, embedded into the company’s bingo interface, a series of fixed-odds wagers that players can place on the bingo game itself, such as whether a certain number will be called, or if the first number be higher than the last.
Discussions surrounding online bingo inevitably throw up interesting points regarding female gambling. Just as poker has attracted celebrities to the game, bingo has followed suit; and although women are still just warming up to gaming, we should expect to see memberships continue to grow at a rapid rate as more and more operators begin to understand the revenue model.
“Unlike traditional casino games, bingo is a low-margin, mass-market opportunity,” argues Schwartz. “As we continue to see the continued adoption of broadband technology and the convergence of all media, bingo will only become more popular. Soon you’ll be able to watch a live bingo game on your television and purchase cards for that game through your mobile.”
Bingo is popular, but the potential is still largely untapped. “The future is bright for bingo,” says Schwartz, “and without question, women are driving that growth.”
