BINGO! How Online Bingo Became a Massive Industry 

It isn’t complicated, but it is fun. For hundreds of years, Bingo has been a popular game of chance. Until recently it hadn’t evolved much since its beginnings in 16th-century Italy. The internet has changed all that. 

Bingo first moved online in 1996 and has been exponentially growing ever since. Whilst in-person Bingo is on the decline, remote play of the game has become popular with demographics that would never have stepped foot in a bingo hall. Notably, players are getting younger.

A Lucrative Loophole

It wasn’t by chance that the bingo industry found such success online. In the early days of the internet, online gambling laws were extremely tight. Many forms of gambling were banned from existing as cash prize games online. 

Bingo, however, was often considered to be different to traditional forms of betting or gaming for money. In the United Kingdom, the 1928 Royal Commission on Gambling classed bingo as a game of chance. This was a separate classification to casino games and allowed bingo to be freely transferred online during the early days of the commercial World Wide Web. 

Diversification

The newest bingo sites have diversified in order to stand out from the pack. Twists on the traditional low stakes gambling game purport to have better odds or bonuses. Newer sites like online bingo nz are also aesthetically eye-popping. Never has one industry spawned so many bizzarro custom fonts. 

Diversification has changed the industry completely. Locality an access are not the make-or-break factors that they used to be. Instead, bingo operators are having to rejuvenate the rules of the game, offer deals and look great to draw in customers. Several established media companies have been able to use their existing reach to promote bingo tie-ins. With such a crowded market and so many companies vying for attention, customers often turn to price comparison websites to scour for the best options. 

Comparison websites are a completely new arm of the bingo industry driven by the competition of the online gambling revolution. 

Casual Fun

The casual and social nature of Bingo has always been one of its strongest features. Traditionally, players would treat bingo nights as social functions. As there is no skill barrier to a successful game of bingo, casual players can join at will – safe in the knowledge that the game is played according to the whims of fate. 

Internet bingo is even more casual: players can choose a game, meet other players, and compete from the comfort of their own homes. Casual players are not disproportionately rewarded for loyalty or constant play. As such, bingo is an exceptionally easy game to pick up and put down. Casual players are often wary of online poker and blackjack: these games are renowned for being addictive and complex. 

One of the most revolutionary results of the internet revolution is the normalization of social interactions across great distances. The social element of bingo is retained and expanded online, allowing players to have a game with old friends or distant relatives. The industry would not be as large as it is today if it were not for online bingo games being venues for social interaction.