Bingo Lotto

UK SPORTS TO RECEIVE MORE FUNDING

Many UK sports are suffering the effects of the credit crunch, with a recent survey revealing that up to 6,000 community sports clubs could close during the recession due to failing revenues. But help is now on its way from a brand new TV Game, launching this autumn, which will bring much needed funding to sports clubs across the UK.

BingoLotto is a live TV game that will air weekly on Virgin 1 from 13th September 2009.  Participants will be able to buy a Gamecard for £2 from any Tesco till point in Britain allowing them to play alongside the TV game that offers multiple chances to play and win throughout the hour long TV game.

For every Gamecard sold, a fantastic 20% will be donated to UK good causes. More than 130 governing bodies of sport and recreation will receive funding through BingoLotto and, with many grassroots sports clubs already feeling the pinch, this new initiative is likely to be a saviour for many clubs.

A pilot series of BingoLotto in 2008 raised over £100,000 which has already been distributed to governing bodies through CCPR, the alliance of sport and recreation bodies, allowing clubs to support their members despite the economic crisis.

 Dave Luscombe from the Auto Cycle Union explains the difference BingoLotto has already made and will continue to make: “As a sport we are overlooked by all sporting funding bodies and don’t receive funding from anyone, The Auto Cycle Union only receives funding from BingoLotto and this support has the potential to make a massive difference to the sport and help and increase participation across all motor cycle sports.”

Charles Bartholomew from UK Athletics adds:  “Funding from BingoLotto provides an additional funding stream that can support projects (or aspects of them) that might otherwise get overlooked by the World Class Performance Programme.”

BingoLotto are planning a huge nationwide advertising campaign to promote the launch, and with Tesco’s involvement, anticipate that sales will exceed and eclipse those of Series 1 in 2008. With Gamecards available to buy from every Tesco store across the UK  from Monday 7 September , this means more opportunities to buy, play and win and of course, more potential funds available for clubs.

In addition to this national advertising and promotion, sporting organisations that have signed up to be one of the beneficiaries of the scheme, will be encouraged to promote BingoLotto as much as possible within their own networks and in their clubs.  Word of mouth is a powerful tool – and the more Gamecards that are sold, the more funds will become available to be shared between the participating organisations.  To raise awareness, BingoLotto will be sending out emails to the beneficiary organisations prior to the launch and promotional posters will also be available at www.bingolotto.tv for members to download and display in clubs and offices.

 There is massive potential for BingoLotto to raise millions of pounds for UK sports.  The programme originates in Sweden and since it started 15 years ago 1.5 billion Gamecards have been sold, providing just under £1 billion to sports clubs and charities in Sweden.