For years now, North America has been celebrating National Bingo Day – an opportunity for lovers of the ball game to take advantage of a wide range of bonuses, promotions and special offers both in their local bingo hall and online.
The celebratory occasion has never made its way to the UK, despite the fact that there’s an estimated five million bingo fanatics on these shores pumping £1 billion into the economy.
Well, that is all set to change….
The UK will celebrate National Bingo Day on June 27, with a variety of events jointly organised by Mecca and Buzz Bingo. The hope is that the extravaganza reinvigorates people’s love of the game, which has been tested during the coronavirus pandemic due to bingo hall closures and limited capacities, with a number of operators joining forces to promote the festival.
National Bingo Day will raise much-needed funds too for providers that have been hit hard in the past year or so, and provide brands with a stay of execution until all lockdown restrictions are lifted.
Supported by the Bingo Association, all operators that have a UK licence have been invited to take part on the day, and the National Bingo Game will see a total prize fund of £100,000 given away to full house merchants on June 27.
Meanwhile, Mecca themselves are going big with an assortment of events and games both in their land-based halls and online.
Their Mega Money Weekend will see £30,000 pumped into the prize kitty, with payouts of up to £5,000 per game available, and Mecca are promising that ALL entrants will win either a cash prize or tickets into another game later in proceedings.
You should watch out for some decidedly non-festive goings on in your local town too.
Because Christmas was ‘cancelled’ in 2020, Mecca have decided to roll back the clock and put on some belated Yuletide festivities that they have labelled ‘Junemas’.
There will be Christmas decorations, songs and mince pies with an optional Christmas jumper dress code, and of course there will be plenty of cash prizes and gifts to be won too.
Ever the Pragmatists
One of the latest firms to confirm their involvement in National Bingo Day is Pragmatic Play, the industry software supplier.
They will be offering a stash of free-to-play games across the long weekend of June 25-27, with prizes of up to £1,000 available via their 80 and 90-ball titles.
Pragmatic have also buddied up with the likes of PlayOJO, Lottoland and Butlers Bingo to ensure that National Bingo Day goes with a bang across their network of gaming sites.
The firm’s head of bingo, Ezgi Erturk, cannot wait for the big day to come round.
“We are massively excited to join in the fun and celebrations of National Bingo Day, along with our partners and all those involved in bingo, both online and in the clubs.
“What better way to celebrate than lots of free bingo, something we know will be eagerly received by players, and available across our network.”