Part 1: Strictly bingo
It added that it had agreed a multi-year deal
effect on smaller affiliates, which are either
with News UK that will include new product unable or unwilling to make the time and money
verticals and a 15-year contract extension. investment to ensure compliance.
Crucially, the company said that the venture
Meanwhile, the sale of Mandalay appears very
would be profitable as of this year and that the much more defensive and again suggests some
minimum guarantees previously agreed will come underperforming long-tail brands.
to an end in 2021.
This all suggests that the bigger operators will,
depending on operational circumstances and
But platforms don’t management capability, continue to do well out of
The picture is less positive when it comes to the bingo, albeit not at the same rate as in the earlier
Playtech bingo platform, where it is fair to say part of this decade.
B2B revenues have stalled.
While the results are nowhere near as poor at
All the same, and in line with the rest of the
online gaming and betting sector, it will almost
those at 888, where Dragonfish revenues have certainly be a harder sector to thrive in. The
fallen more than 16% in the past two years, it regulatory tightening appears to act like a ratchet
does suggest that the platform business is being and at the same time makes it harder and more
squeezed as the sector comes under pressure. expensive to pursue marketing.
Bingo continues to be viewed by consumers as
More consolidation to come being at the softer end of the gaming spectrum
The bingo sector might just be a leading indicator and so the online operators have largely been
for the whole of the online gaming space in able to dodge the brickbats from the anti-
the UK, where the dual pincers of increased gambling lobby. But bingo can’t completely
regulatory scrutiny and tax increases are acting escape the generally negative perception of
like a vice. gambling on the part of UK consumers, where
It seems fair to suggest that the era of a
trust is lower than it has ever been. In the recent
proliferation of bingo brands has passed its zenith. Gambling Commission awareness and attitudes
The evidence from 888’s Dragonfish, for instance, report published in February, those who believed
and (perhaps less so) Playtech would suggest gambling is conducted fairly and can be trusted
there is at the very least a drop-off in revenues dropped to 30% from 33% in 2017.
from the long tail. This would appear to be
corroborated by a few other pieces of evidence.
In the bingo affiliate sector there have also
The strictures that might be applied in the
wider sector, particularly around TV advertising,
will also have an effect on bingo. While sports
been moves to consolidate, as well as some betting is more often cited by those who believe
reasonably high-profile exits. Though certainly there is too much advertising on TV, bingo must
not exclusively related to bingo, the extra still take its share of the blame for the general
regulatory burdens are certainly having an feeling of gambling advertising ubiquity.
iGaming Business Market Monitor • UK bingo market, Sweden and Germany • June 2019
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