New Online Bingo Association On The Cards

June 23rd, 2009

Some prominent members of the Paul Talboys headed UK Bingo Association, have reservations regarding the idea of setting up a separate online bingo association. Online bingo is extremely popular in the UK, and an online bingo association would definitely serve as a mouthpiece for the operators.

This move is also seen as a step that can possibly expedite the self regulation of the industry which is vital to its survival in the UK. Most of the online bingo operators are licensed in countries where the gambling regulations are fairly liberal. As such, they do not come within the legislative net of the UK. However, once they form an association, some experts believe that the government could express a disinterest in negotiating or doing any business with them because of their legislative exclusivity. In fact, due to the legislative implications, some land based bingo operators are also not in favor of opening the doors of the UK Bingo Association as they feel it would negatively impact their image and credibility with the government; they contend that the Bingo Association has been formed with the primary objective of safeguarding the rights and interests of the operators licensed out of the UK. They assert that the online bingo operators, based out of tax havens as they are, do not merit membership in the association on this ground.

Online Bingo operators could align with each other and set up an independent bingo association but they might lose out on the scale of operation and industry expertise of the original Bingo association. Land based bingo operators who have presence in the online market are understandably in favor of the UK Bingo Association accepting membership from their online cousins. These operators want to build better unity among players in an industry which is at present marred by fractured groups and petty cartels. They believe that such an association could serve as a point of contact with the government for any discussion required on any vital issue, present or future.

With the recently concluded online bingo summit garnering record turnout, the online operators are seriously considering coming together once again-this time as an association. The recent hike in bingo duty, legislative amendments to the Gambling Act and the smoking ban, have all negatively impacted bingo associations, big and small, and forced many of them to shut shop in a recessionary economy. Bingo majors like Gala Bingo have also broken away from the Bingo association as part of their cost cutting measures because they did not feel they could derive value from the hefty membership fees. In such a scenario, a cohesive unit which brings together all operators is the need of the hour. This could see both ends of the bingo spectrum benefitting, big and small, land based and online.

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New Online Bingo Association On The Cards

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