The land based Bingo halls in the UK and United States used to draw huge crowds once upon a time. Their business had remained stable for quite a few decades but slowly signs of wear and tear are showing and cracks are beginning to form. With every passing year the average footfall is keeping on decreasing. One of the main reasons for the demise of such a glorious business in the UK is the recently passed court order banning smoking inside the halls. After this order there was a sudden drop in the number of visitors to the major halls. In the United States whichever State has passed a ban on smoking has seen a significant decrease in business in the bingo halls.
The smoking ban passed in UK was applicable to the whole nation as such and thus it affected every bingo hall in the country equally. But in the US as all the states have their own federal system and bans are passed by them individually it gets difficult for the experts to judge the effect of the ban on a nationwide basis. There are some states in the US which remains a bit lenient on private organizations and certain businesses and exempts them from the ban while there are some states which pass a blanket ban on smoking.
In the UK the Rank Group, one of the largest operators of bingo halls, issued a release saying they had been severely affected by recent changes made to the retail business, so mush so that they had incurred a 19% drop in revenue in the UK and a 22% drop in Wales and England. In the United States smoking bans have given the traditional bingo halls a severe beating. In Ohio, which recently passed a blanket smoking ban there has been a significant decline in revenue in the halls and many charitable institutions have been forced to drop this game from their itinerary.
Even though the administration meant well but the law has had severe consequences for the charitable organizations in USA. Earlier these organizations used to hold bingo games and raise funds through them for various people like the churches and veteran groups. But now they must look at an alternative source of raising funds. The ban on smoking was meant for public health and safety but it has had some negative impact for various organizations and businesses.
Online Bingo drove the final nail in the coffin for land based bingo halls. This version has gained so much popularity in the UK and US that people have almost forgotten about the land based bingo halls. People can smoke while playing from their own home and the jackpot money offered is huge. Most of the websites are designed in a user friendly manner and the online version brings in some dynamic changes which is not possible for physical bingo games. All these effects have cumulatively made online bingo popular among all ages. Most of the operators of the sites are owned by trading companies and the game is played with honesty and transparency which was not possible for physical bingo.
Thus according to experts the major cause for the loss of popularity of the land based halls was the smoking ban and the final nail was hammered down by the huge popularity of online bingo.
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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lisa_Jobbs
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