Nigel Eccles on Newspapers and Alternative Revenue Sources: Bingo

Editor's note: when we heard the latest brainstorm for creating revenue for desperate newspapers ... putting Bingo games on their web sites as is done in Britain ... we thought we'd ask our old friend Nigel Eccles about that. Nigel is co-founder and CEO of hubdub.com, based in the United Kingdom.

Is Bingo a significant revenue source for the papers?

NE: At a guess I would say between 25 - 50 percent of UK newspaper online revenues comes from non-advertising sources. Of that a big chunk is online gaming.

Is Bingo common on UK newspaper web sites and is it popular with readers?

NE: The majority of UK newspapers now offer online bingo.


If so, how do readers pay to play?

NE: Deposits via debit or credit card.


Can you win big-time or is it penny ante?

NE: Most of the games are for small stakes.

Are there any other games on British paper web sites that are popular and lucrative?

NE: Yes, sports betting and also fantasy football (soccer) and cricket. The Sun (http://www.thesun.co.uk) has a Bingo site which I believe is a big revenue generator for them (http://www.sunbingo.co.uk/). They also have white labels with a sports book and online casino. The Telegraph runs a number of very profitable businesses, including a puzzle center and premium fantasy league (http://fantasyfootball.telegraph.co.uk/). Also the Telegraph's puzzle centre is popular.

It actually surprises me that U.S. newspapers do not offer premium fantasy sports games. We are currently developing one for the U.S. market (baseball and NFL) and it has surprised me how few of them have an offering. It could potentially be very lucrative for them to white label games from a developer such as ourselves.


(Editor's note: white label means a product or service developed by one company that other companies rebrand to make it appear they made it.)