Leading bookmakers William Hill, PartyGaming and 888 Holdings can expect sales from their European online bingo activities to increase as the game catches on throughout the continent.

According to data released recently by H2 Gambling Capital, a research company based in Manchester, England, with clients including PartyGaming, revenues from online bingo will rise by more than 20 percent this year and next to total around $1.6 billion by the end of 2010.

H2 stated that online bingo has proven more resilient than other kinds of gaming as the worst recession since the Second World War restrains consumer spending and as revenues decline in traditional land-based halls.

Simon Holliday, Director for H2, told the Bloomberg news service that bingo is the ‘least mature’ area of online gambling but that this is serving as part of its appeal.

“Online bingo is in such an early growth phase that any recessionary impacts are outweighed by its newness,” said Holliday.

“This is often supply-driven demand. It relates to availability and how heavily things are marketed.”

Bloomberg reported that William Hill’s net revenues from online bingo and skill games such as backgammon rose 50 percent over the first half of 2009 while sales at its more traditional outlets fell by one percent. It quoted spokesperson David Hood as stating that the London-based firm expects bingo gross sales, which include players’ winnings, to grow by 50 percent in 2010 from $250 million this year.

The news service stated that the Chief Executive Officer for 888 Holdings, Gigi Levy, revealed that his firm expects to generate close to $100 million in annual revenues from bingo ‘in a few years’, which is up from about $40 million at present.

Levy told Bloomberg that online bingo ‘should not be smaller than online poker’ in five years’ time and predicted ‘about 50 to 100 percent a year growth’ for the pastime in countries such as Italy and Spain as the game becomes more popular.

Source: iGamingBusiness.com