Bingo and the Smoking Ban
How The Smoking Ban Changed Bingo Forever
When the smoking ban arrived in England in July 2007, critics feared the potentially drastic damage to social outlets, such as pubs and clubs. However, the health benefits were clear and the emphasis was placed on a change in thinking. This goes some way to explaining why, in the aftermath of the ban, there was a dramatic fall in admissions to bingo halls but in the years hence an upsurge in people playing online bingo.
The portent of doom originated from witnessing Scotland’s tumbling numbers of admissions to bingo clubs when the smoking ban arrived north of the border a year before it did in England. From the inception of the ban in April until the first monthly figures had been evaluated by the end of May, ten bingo clubs had closed already. Overall, in that first month, Scotland’s bingo clubs had seen their customer base shrink by 8%, a trend that, if continued, would have meant the closure of the remaining clubs by the end of the year. If England, Wales and Northern Ireland were to follow suite when their subsequent bans were phased in, no bingo club would still grace our towns and cities today.
This trend did, of course, not continue to such a dramatic conclusion. As admissions continued to drop a number of online gaming sites saw the potential loss of such a long-standing tradition but refused to lie back while this happened. Gaming companies realised that it was unfeasible that such a popular game could shrink into obscurity and took up the mantle for bingo lovers everywhere.
Even ten years ago this move could have been potentially fatal, but in the digital age in which we live this represents a logical evolution. As increasing numbers of consumers gain access to the internet they are becoming aware of the social possibilities that it provides. In 2009 Gordon Brown asserted that broadband “should run like water” to meet the growing demands of 21st Century Britain, demands such as greater access to social networks and games where consumers can enjoy the interaction of old whilst remaining unaffected by the legislation of new.
In the year following the gaming ban, admissions to hospital for sufferers of heart disease dropped by 10% - a huge victory for the smoking ban itself. Meanwhile, bingo players increased, ensuring the game transgressed the potentially fatal threat and actually gained popularity (today there are over 3.5million bingo players compared with around 3million when the ban was established in 2006. So it is that not only has the ban benefited us in terms of health, but also helped a national institution to go from strength to strength.
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