British Gambling Commission identifies reason behind data discrepancies in bingo participation

(AsiaGameHub) –   Alongside the Bingo Association, the regulator carried out a more thorough investigation into British in-person bingo participation at physical venues.

UK.- The British Gambling Commission has released a report examining the consistency and comparability of UK bingo participation estimates. The joint analysis with the Bingo Association has helped resolve discrepancies in figures between the Gambling Survey of Great Britain (GSGB) and the industry’s internal data.

Over a year ago, the two organizations began evaluating a data comparison after the Bingo Association questioned why GSGB’s in-person bingo participation data did not align with its own. The 2024 GSGB survey estimated that 3.3 per cent of UK adults had played bingo at a physical venue in the past four weeks—more than three times higher than the Bingo Association’s 1 per cent estimate, which was based on bingo club admissions.

The Gambling Commission collaborated with the Bingo Association to design an additional survey question to gather more detailed information about people’s bingo habits. This question, which included a list of potential bingo venues from traditional clubs to charity events, was added to the next wave of GSGB fieldwork.

With three waves of data now available, findings reveal a range of places where people play bingo. Estimates for the number of individuals playing at traditional bingo clubs are now much closer to the Bingo Association’s own figures, standing at 1.2 per cent.

The Gambling Commission says it now aims to analyze the demographic profiles of bingo players across different venues but first needs to expand its sample of respondents.

Miles Baron of the Bingo Association stated: “The Bingo Association is fortunate to collect detailed industry data, which allowed us to cross-reference and subsequently question the GSGB’s findings on bingo participation rates.

“We are grateful for the opportunity to contribute an extra question to the GSGB survey in an effort to understand the discrepancies. We now have greater clarity on why these differences exist, though there are further questions to explore once a larger sample size is available.”