Bright lights, big wins and how bingo is dabbling in the future

Eyes down! We’re playing for a full house. Dabbers at the ready. It’s the New Year and bingo is making a comeback. Bingo halls and clubs buzz with excitement and online platforms are lighting up screens like Oxford Street’s Christmas decorations. From flashing lights to colourful bingo cards, eager players take their chances on a nice little bonus to cover the festive bills.

You will hear the hum of passion from players in the bingo halls. The chat boxes of the online bingo community continue to beep energetically, and the occasional shout of “pull-it” or “house” from a packed club cuts the tension. From ‘Kelly’s eye’, to ‘top of the shop’, playing bingo is like life – it’s all about when your numbers come up!

Expectation. Anticipation. The buzz of winning. A bitter rage welling up inside. Clenched fists as the sting of defeat pierces your soul. You were ‘sweating’ on one number for a while. Every player knows the nail biting thrill of being nearly there before someone else steals the glory and claims the prize. From packed venues to your sofa with a brew, bingo remains a timeless crowd pleaser.

So, while bingo has firmly established itself as a key player in the iGaming sector, it stands firm in its community roots. Whether that’s in-person or online, bingo has no need to ‘jump and jive’ because it’s on the rise once more.

Doctor’s orders! Read on to see how Bingo has achieved this comeback and what lies ahead in 2025. Let’s dive into the numbers, trends, and a bit of trivia. The challenge is this: can you decipher the ‘bingo-lingo’ before you reach the end of the article? If not, the cheeky quack of ‘two little ducks’ will lead you to the glossary!

From niche to nationwide sensation

Once relegated to smoky social clubs, church halls, and seaside resorts, bingo has had a major glow-up. Who doesn’t enjoy a night out in a dabbing frenzy only to win the meat hamper when the caller pulls one of your discarded tickets with your name on the reverse from an empty crisp box? Ok, so bingo has moved on since its heyday in the 1960s and 70s seaside resorts and social clubs with ultra-modern halls offering a full range of gambling, food, and drinks, as well as providing socialising and community. The younger generation has embraced this exciting game of probability and now, online bingo is reaching new heights of participation. For instance, The Rank Group plc ’s Mecca Bingo reported that 44 percent of its new customers in the year to June 2024 were under 35 years old, a rise of 5 percent since 2019.

Whilst online gambling bears some responsibility for the decline in bingo halls, other things such as high taxation, the UK smoking ban and the cost-of-living crisis following the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. In 2014, the number of licenced bingo premises stood at 710 whilst in 2024, official UK government figures reveal this figure has declined to 251. The resilience of in-person bingo experienced a slight rise to 650 premises in 2023 following the UK lockdowns.

Now, the convenience of accessing online platforms offers players home comforts whilst still presenting that all-important community aspect that bingo bases its success upon. To counteract this and encourage people to attend, operators such as Buzz Bingo have introduced themed events such as Abba bingo shows, which has proved exceptionally successful amongst the younger demographic. In the year to January 2024, around half of their 200,000 new visitors were under 35 years old...[Read more]