Commentator Bingo Proves to be a Major Flop for Sky

Just when you think you’ve seen it all, along comes another totally bizarre and bonkers bingo idea – commentator bingo, only this time, it was that stupid, it didn’t even get off the ground! Bingo is bingo, no matter how you dress it up, but one operator was aiming to pick apart the true meaning of the much-loved numbers game in an attempt to cash in, but it backfired immensely. And rightly so in my opinion!

I’ve long been a lover of bingo – ever since I was old enough to play, I would go with my aunt and my sisters to a bingo hall some 120 miles away, but it wasn’t all about the game, it was about the social aspect of it, something many say you don’t get online. I say they’re wrong! Anyway, where was I…oh yes, commentator bingo!

The owners of Sky Bet have many fingers in many pies with six core gaming products under their wing: Vegas, casino, live casino, poker, Sky Bingo (featuring unique ways!) and lotto, along with a handful of websites exchanging big money for free for correct sporting predictions (Super 6, Fantasy Football and Racing 7’s). With a portfolio as successful as that, why would they try to offer something else? Especially something that is so stupid?

Attracting the Wrong Attention!

In an attempt to branch into other gambling avenues, commentator bingo was announced, but according to our source (SBC News), they pulled the plug on the product just before Sunday’s EPL clash between Manchester United (my team!) and Liverpool due to some serious backlash. Are you ready to hear what they wanted to cash in on?

The big idea was to make big money by allowing football fans to predict and place wagers on “exact words and phrases” that commentators could use during the football event. Martin Tyler, Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher are pundits for the operator who engage in a lot of banter and fun but making money on what they say is completely wrong, and I wasn’t the only one to think this.

Carolyn Harris, a UK Member of Parliament and the chair of the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group wasn’t exactly impressed upon learning of the new bingo ‘game’ offered to players. She said it was “astounding, unbelievable and predatory,” adding “Where are the limits? What are the boundaries on what these companies are going to take a bet on? I am aghast that they try to find a betting opportunity in every minute of the day.”

Bingo is good for you, it’s been proven to be beneficial for cognitive memory in later years, but this idea of theirs does nothing other than reigniting the flames on responsible gambling here in the UK and we can expect some big announcements from the Gambling Commission on this, because at the moment, as stupid as it sounds, their idea is not prohibited by the gambling law.

Source: “Commentator Bingo Gambling Action Falls from the Sky”. Calvin Ayre. January 20, 2020.