UK Bingo Halls
There are approximately 651 bingo halls in the UK. Unlike Ireland, bingo halls operate as commercial enterprises and make profit for shareholders.
The UK bingo market is dominated by Mecca and Gala, with around 170 bingo halls for Gala and 100 for Mecca, or 43% of the market.
Other big operators include Top Ten (42 clubs), Carlton (16) and Buckingham (11 clubs).
UK bingo players spent £2.8 billion on bingo tickets in 2007, according to figures released by Mintel market research. Mecca and Gala account for about 60% of sales.
The number of bingo clubs is falling fairly rapidly as the real world bingo population ages and as the effect of the national smoking ban takes effect. A survey of bingo players in early 2007 suggested one in ten players would stop going to play bingo once the smoking ban was implemented.
