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The 4th Online Bingo Summit 2009

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4th Annual Bingo Summit - Exhibition HallFour years on from its first outing, the 4th Annual Online Bingo Summit has grown in size, echoing the growth in size of the online bingo market. This year there were over 300 people in attendance at the event, which can now rightly claim to be the landmark event for the industry. It's been a long year in bingo terms since the last summit, which I went into great depth with over at the articles about the 3rd Online Bingo Summit.

The last couple of times I've written about the event, I've used it as an opportunity to really get my teeth into problems I see in the industry. This year I'm going to refrain from doing the same as to be honest, I don't really want to be repeating the same gripes I've already covered elsewhere in my coverage. Also, a large amount of the summit covered similar ground to last year's event, and a lot of things have remained unchanged in the general marketplace.

Instead I will focus on some of the positives from the event, and cover the changes / developments in some key areas. Rather than cover actual panels individually, I'll once again condense it down into some headline themes, starting with one of the biggies from last year, bingo hitting the mass market.

Bingo Still Not Broken Through To The Mass Market

CEO Panel membersWhich Bingo's figures say there are now roughly 265 UK facing sites, which is roughly 10% up on the amount of sites at last year's events. Despite this, it would seem that the amount of online players has not really increased much, according to Gambling Commission figures. However, Parlay's Peter Trinz went on to say that despite these figures, there was still a potentially massive amount of growth waiting to happen for online bingo. He stated that the industry shouldn't see the growth on just as a UK issue, but on an international level.

It would seem the growth in bingo sites in the UK has slowed somewhat and the marketplace has matured to a degree. As for the 265 bingo sites, it's worth noting that as well as new sites increasing the numbers upwards, there have also been a number of sites that have closed down as well, masking the overall percentage of growth. The potential purchase of Cashcade by PartyGaming was held up as an example of the consolidation that's still happening in the marketplace, and expected to continue as the marketplace continues to mature. Personally I think we need less bingo sites in the UK, not more, especially when it comes to the march of soulless clones and network skins. However, it would seem that wish is not likely to happen, even when consolidation and growth are accounted for.

I'd agree with Peter Trinz's claims that bingo has still not hit the mass market appeal that has been predicted. I think this is in part down to people perceptions of the game and its inherent simplicity. Despite bingo's limited game play, I'm surprised this large appeal is yet to materialise, especially given the increased exposure the UK public has to it on TV these days. With TV advertising in the first quarter of 2009 already bigger than the whole of the advertising spend in 2008, this is surprising to me. Could it be that the advertising is in fact reinforcing people's negative perceptions of the game, thanks in part to it's unimaginative and cliched manner?

The belief at the summit was that the game needs a big breakthrough tied in with a big and trusted partner such as Tesco, but personally, I do worry that just tagging a brand to bingo is not enough, there has to be something more compelling than just saying here's Tesco Bingo, now everyone play. However, even without this big breakthrough, things are still looking rosy in the world of online, with revenues expected to continue to raise. It was estimated that by 2012, online bingo profits would reach the $2billion mark. If the US market should reopen in the next year or so, those figures could be even higher.

Bingo Still Not Broken Through In Europe And The Greater World

Phil Fraiser introduces the online bingo summitInterestingly, there was a lot more optimism about the opening up of potential new markets around the world. Previously the USA and Latin America were definite no-goes for the industry, but recent regime and legislation changes could pave the way to open up these markets. It was suggested that people start preparing for the opening of these markets now. Not actually targeting them yet, but spending time evaluating the local culture of the game and what to do attract the audience.

Europe remains particularly patchwork at the moment, with some countries like France and Germany potentially opening up under pressure from the EU. Italy and Spain continue to be the biggest potential markets in the short term, but both remain problematic and caught up with bureaucracy. Other areas are also starting to get the bingo bug, with South Africa being one example that was held up. Should America open up again, it would no doubt become the biggest market for the game and it's impact would be huge. Unfortunately though, at the moment it remains a case of wait and see.

Bingo Still Not Broken Through On TV

European bingo showGiven the emphasis on TV last year, and the hope that it could be bingo's big break, events have not lived up to expectations. With the canning of the much heralded ITV Bingo Night and the continued under whelming TV experience of shows that are little more than what Debbie Mason described as "PC on TV". An international show from Croatia was shown as an example of low budget Prime Time entertainment, but to be fair, it was little more exciting than watching a room full of people marking off their bingo tickets.

However, the show did give pointers to what could be done. Players get extra bonuses for being in the studio playing, and you could buy your tickets to play along at home. The games of bingo were interspersed with light entertainment. It was mooted that for such a format to succeed in the UK, a different approach to those already tried would be needed. It would be one that would need to engage the public with top quality presenters, and foster much more of a community based spirit.

The one big change from the talk of TV bingo last year was the change in classification of TV gambling shows from gaming to TV shopping. The was some split opinions on whether this was a good or bad thing. On the plus side the change of classification has made things a lot easier for the operators. Now they can actually mention the prizes are in pounds and be up front that they are about gambling. On the other hand, it was argued that it could be potentially problematic for the industry as it increased the exposure to gaming to vulnerable gamblers.

Generally, there was a lack of enthusiasm that from the panel that bingo was likely to make a viable TV option any time soon. However, that's not the end of the story, there's been news the last week that PartyGaming have partnered up with Channel Five, so Bingo Night could potentially be reborn. At the moment though, details of what the two will do are still sketchy. Either way, bingo's future on TV is far from rosy.

Bingo Still Not Broken Through On Mobile

Bingo On TV panelThings have remained quiet on the mobile front. Cozy Games offered an iPhone version of their online game, but that is not strictly a true mobile bingo solution. The iPhone software runs on Wifi rather than on the phone network. The true online bingo experience of chat and tickets remains beyond the realms of modern handsets and technologies. In fact one of experts mentioned that the time for the much vaunted convergence has passed, with the differing technologies all now hopelessly out of synch with each other. Let's hope he's right, I'm sick of hearing about the last decade, so lets put it to rest.

Part 2: The 4th Annual Online Bingo Summit 2009 >>

Author: David Lloyd

Related Links And Resources

Bullet Business' Online Bingo Summit
Flickr Photoset from the 4th Online Bingo Summit 2009

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