Online gambling has grown significantly due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the biggest areas of growth has been the online bingo industry. While many wrote the game off as a dinosaur in the past few decades, recent growth has shown that bingo is not only surviving, but it's poised for potentially massive growth in the years to come.

In the short report below, we'll take a brief look at the current state of the bingo industry in the UK, as well as reveal what current trends indicate for the game's growth in the years to come.

A £910 Million-Per-Year Industry

From April 2019 to May 2020, bingo parlors — both online and in brick-and-mortar establishments — generated a GGY of £910 million in the UK. The bulk of that (£635.9 million) was driven by live bingo, but trends indicate that online bingo may be catching up.

The amount of money wagered on bingo at online casinos was up 0.9% over the above time period, while the amount of money wagered in brick-and-mortar casinos fell by 5.7%.

What's Driving the Popularity of Online Bingo?

Clearly, one of the biggest factors in the above numbers is the COVID-19 pandemic. Many players preferred to stay home and socially isolate rather than risk exposure to a potentially-deadly virus. If these players still wanted to gamble on bingo, the availability of online casinos offered them an easy avenue to do so.

There's more to it than just the pandemic, however. Facebook and similar websites have popularized free bingo games that are much more entertaining and complex than the traditional form of the game that most players are used to. Anyone who has spent hours playing the free versions of these games will naturally be attracted to the prospect of winning money while having fun.

While the availability of free and entertaining games has made bingo attractive to novice gamblers, it also happens to be one of the few forms of gambling that's more popular with women than men. It's particularly widespread among women in lower socioeconomic groups, as those women tend to be attracted to the relative ease of gameplay and the sizable jackpots offered by the game.

The Future of Bingo in the UK

Bingo is expected to continue to grow in popularity, with online bingo being the primary driver of the game's growth. Perhaps the biggest advantage that live bingo offers over the online version — social interaction with other players — will likely soon be replicated by VR technology, live casino games, and other technological innovations.

The fact that many players were driven to experiment with online gambling for the first time due to the COVID-19 pandemic will likely only hasten this transition. These players may not abandon their brick-and-mortar bingo parlors entirely, but it's likely that some, if not all, of their gambling time and money will be spent online.

The game itself is likely to continue to evolve as well, as new forms spring up every day. Hybrid bingo games that incorporate another form of entertainment, like dancing, may allow live parlors to compete with their online counterparts while also bringing in a steady stream of new players.

Time will tell what the future holds for bingo, but if current trends hold, the game isn't likely to fall off the average UK gambler's radar anytime soon.