Bingo Debate

Long before the March 2008 budget the UK government had been urged to remove the VAT it has placed on bingo games, in fact campaigns have been going on for the past five years to persuade the government to ease taxation on the bingo industry. However this year the campaign really stepped up when one of the constituents of Exchequer Alistair Darling, a bingo caller at Darling’s local Mecca club gave his voice to the campaign and sent a petition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s website. In early March the petition had over 900 signatures.

The issue arises as the current system seems to tax the bingo industry twice. The bingo companies that provide us with the service and enjoyment have to pay a bingo duty, which From 27 October 2003 is 15% of a bingo promoter’s profits in an accounting period, in addition to VAT of 17.5%. This is not a situation endured by casinos and bookmakers.

The effect of this added strain has been more evident in the non internet side of the industry, where around 90 clubs have closed in the past two years. A trend unlikely to change if the taxation policy is not altered. A trend that is reducing opportunity in communities to socialise, leading seclusion and less cohesion. A trend that results in a loss of local jobs. A trend that will reduce spending and lead to economic slowing in these areas. A trend that affects local businesses and reduces investment in the affected areas. But most of all a trend that reduces the quality of life for many people who no longer have the opportunity to partake in their favoured pastime.

Unfortunately Alistair Darling did ease the burden on the bingo industry this March, rather more; he increased it by delivering an inflationary rise on amusement machine licence duty.

Let’s hope our efforts make more of a difference next time around.

Recently marketing for online bingo has taking a dramatic turn for the worst. In my opinion anyway. Most of the major online bingo operators have subtly but not aversely aimed their marketing at a female audience. This was evident when Bingos.co.uk brought in Kerry Katona as the figurehead of their marketing campaign. Other high name bingo operators followed suit with FoxyBingo.com, for example, enlisting Katie Price (aka Jordan) and the WAGS of famous footballers to help in their marketing campaigns.

I personally had no problem with this. The adverts were tasteful, and did not make men feel at all excluded from the bingo experience. The recent stream of marketing for various bingo operators is different entirely. Some operators have given themselves feminine names, while many have decided on very feminine colour schemes and graphics.

As a man that loves playing bingo I am a little perturbed by this, it seams as if the large bingo operators, who do have the money and marketing power to impact on public perception, are emasculating the game. Certain bingo websites make me feel wrong for playing on them. It feels like I’ve accidentally walked into a ladies changing room, or stumbled upon a meeting of the women’s institute.

Luckily there are a few websites that haven’t succumbed to this kind of gender biased marketing namely, BingoFriends and BingoJoy, which encourage balanced and inclusive bingo communities. I for one will be sticking to these websites for the time being.

Please let me know how you feel… are you a woman that enjoys the female orientated sites? Are you a man feeling turned off bingo by the new marketing campaigns? Please leave your comments.

Bingo clubs and halls across throughout the UK have been smoke free since the ban was introduced in all of the final of the home nations in july 2007. Some smoking bingo playing indiviauals have suggested that the implementation of a ban on smoking in public places could cripple the bingo industry.

The smoking ban in public places in bonnie Scotland came into effect Sunday 26 March, 2006. In the three months post ban, revenues at all Scottish clubs have been hit hard, with smaller independent operators feeling the greatest pressure.  Five clubs have already had to close.

Some venues have a customer base where the majority of customers smoke and on average accommodate 750 people, so change into a smokeless atmosphere is going to take some time and a considerable amount of investment.  Funding this investment will prove challenging for larger operators and almost impossible for many smaller ones, especially if the effects of a ban are as extreme as they have been in Scotland. 

It is clear that many clubs will not survive this difficult transition period without some concession to their drastically altered trading conditions.  Based on the experience in Scotland many clubs will be forced to close with a resulting loss of jobs and social facilities for many local communities.

We want to know what you think:

- Will clubs in England have to close?
- Will the ban make you more/less likely to visit your local bingo hall?
- Are you glad of the smoking ban in general?
- Do you think it will mean more people playing online?

please comment and let us know…

In 2006 celebrity involvement in bingo went one step further as Gala Bingo signed Sharon Osborne to be the new face of their online bingo site, and her face was all over the advertisements and Gala’s home page. In early 2007 UK online bingo operators Foxy Bingo signed Katie Price to front the launch of a new bingo game. 

With the help of Katie, Foxy Bingo has become one of the is now one of the largest UK online bingo sites with over 200,000 members and over 1000 regularly playing at one time. To repay Katy for some of this success Foxy Bingo are also supporting The Disability Foundation and Vision Charity - charities selected by Katie Price. Bingo players raised over £8,500 in the Charity Bingo Room, where 50% of all purchased cards go to charities.

At this point celebrity bingo endorsement really seamed to be taking off. However it has been reported that Gala Bingo, was considering dropping the celeb star of ‘The Osbournes’ and the X-Factor Sharon Osborne, as a brand ambassador.

Sharon was the correct type of celebrity. Apparently their marketing strategy needed to focus on younger bingoers.

UK bingo operator FoxyBingo. Foxy are successfully promoting its online bingo product with younger celebrities, such as Jordan, aka Katie Price and WAGs (wife and girlfriends of footballers) and stars of ‘the Better Half Boutique’.

Large bingo websites such as Foxy Bingo or JackpotJoy allow people who run websites to become affiliates, and earn between 25% and 50% of the profit from people that are referred from their website. Referrals can be in the form clicking on an advert on a persons website or clicking on a text link on the website. Some affiliates have their own bingo site, but it uses the larger (parent) site’s games and chat rooms.

The links on this website are examples of the first kind of affiliate link, and a good example of the second kind would be BingoBoffin.com - using JackpotJoy’s chat rooms and bingo games but with a fresh and enjoyable new look.

The question is… do we approve of the affiliate sites, or are they leaching of the larger sites and making bingo more expensive for genuine players?

I think the answer lies in what the affiliates offer to us, the player. You have to ask… does the affiliate improve your online bingo experience or do they provide you with a new or different service?

I believe, and hopefully you agree, that BingoDebate as well as being an affiliate with the bingo sites we like and trust, does offer a genuine service. We hope you use BingoDebate to keep up to date with the news and events in the world of online bingo, as well as joining in the debates about bingo and other related blogs.

I also think sites like BingoBoffin really can improve my online bingo experience, simply by providing new and fresh graphics on the bingo games I play.

But… I would like to point out there are some affiliates I do disapprove of! These are the kind that masquerade as their parent site on search engines and advertising programmes. For example just search for a well-known bingo site or bingo game on google. In the sponsored searches section there will be loads of adverts for well known bingo sites that actually lead to a completely different affiliate website. These confuse new players and leach of the notoriety of their parent site. I wish they could be stopped!

I also disapprove of so called bingo review sites, that only give positive reviews, to try to get the reader to click on thier link. These kind of review sites almost never offer a genuine opinion, and are only there to make money… not offer a service.

But here’s to the genuine affiliates who are there to improve our online bingo experience!