Who Is Playing Bingo Online?

Pre-Covid, Bingo was already proving to be a huge success online. But just who was driving that popularity? The answers aren’t entirely surprising.

In 2018, YouGov ran a poll on online Bingo to try and find out who was driving its popularity online. Over the years, a certain stereotype had developed about traditional bingo halls, and I guess they wanted to see what had changed.

Yes, the demographics of the two were rather different. At least, they were before a global pandemic hit. Things have probably changed now, but how?

Bingo Hits the Polls

It’s no surprise that Bingo has done well online. The old smoke-filled hall is a thing of the past, but that doesn’t mean the game is. Playing online has other advantages over your local building. For instance, being able to pick and choose where you play based on the best deals used to be impossible, but these days is usual practice. Somewhere like Sing Bingo can offer up incentives the old Bingo halls would never have dreamed of. And that’s not the only benefit of playing online. Ease to play whenever you want, the ability not to have to go out with a crowd…

And unsurprisingly, these are all things that are appealing more to a younger generation. More than 50 per cent of people who play online are aged between 25 and 44. The majority – more than 60 per cent – are women.

Excited young woman showing her ticket after winning a bingo game in a casino

At the time, YouGov put the results down to younger people being more comfortable with technology.

They said: “Of course, we can attribute the fact that younger demographics are interested in the game to technology, and the ease in which they can play on smartphones. And indeed, this is by far the most popular way to take part in online bingo, some way ahead of using a tablet.”

Despite the ease of use of a smartphone, 30 per cent of players in 2018 had also visited a physical Bingo hall in the previous 12 months.

The Impact of Covid

Of course, these figures are now quite old. 2019 would have shown a bigger drive to online Bingo, and 2020 would have pushed it even further (perhaps artificially).

The question, then, is what will have changed because of coronavirus?

It’s unlikely the gender demographics will have changed all that much, although it’s possible the age ranges will have changed somewhat. With no option to go to the Bingo halls, the biggest fans may have turned to technology to keep them enjoying their pastime.

But will it have skewed up or down? How many younger people have taken up online gambling during the last 18 months? And how many older people?

Whatever happens, the range of those involved will have probably stretched, but it’s hard to say beyond that.

The impacts of coronavirus won’t be obvious for a little while yet – especially as things begin to go back to normal.