Gala Bingo has long been one of the leaders in the UK bingo industry, both offline and online.  The past few years, though, have really made some changes to the bingo giant and now there is a lot of speculation around the internet that they may be on their way out.  In an industry that relies on the new and innovative, Gala Bingo is being outdistanced by newcomers to the market like Foxy and Crown Bingo.

It’s easy to blame the smoking ban and the new tax situation for Gala Bingo’s decline but this isn’t a recent development.  In the past few years, the group has closed at least 20 landbased bingo clubs due to fewer than ever bingo goers causing many clubs to just not be profitable any longer.  The situation is just getting worse for the company with the ban and the rise in the tax rate.  The group just closed down 5 more clubs, resulting in the loss of over 300 jobs.

Gala Bingo made its mark in the online bingo market by developing unique and innovative games.  Since these games were exclusive to the site, it was a big draw and great for customer retention.  However, recently Gala Bingo has turned to licensed games instead of creating their own.  This is likely due to the much lower cost of licensing software rather than developing it in-house.

While we can certainly understand the need to save on costs, we feel Gala Bingo is cutting their own throat with this tactic.  If the games are the same as those found all over the rest of the web, there is no pressing need to go to Gala Bingo in order to play.  This is especially true as new technologies have come about and more sites are coming up with unique offerings.  This movement towards licensed game will just speed up the spiraling downturn for Gala Bingo, in our opinion.

Sad to say, Gala Bingo is simply doing all the wrong things right at the moment.  If they want to regain their leadership position in the UK bingo market, they are going to need to return to some of the things that made them great in the beginning.