Tombola is a British
gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
company which operates the largest
online bingo
Online bingo is the game of bingo ( US, UK) played on the Internet and its estimated launch was in 1996. It is estimated that the global gross gaming yield of bingo (excluding the United States) was US$500 million in 2006, and it is forecasted t ...
website in Europe. The company produces original bingo software and games, created by an in-house development team, and is one of the largest employers of game and web developers in the north east of England. The business is split into two divisions,
UK and International. UK operations are conducted from its headquarters in
Sunderland, while its International business operates from its overseas hubs in
Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa.
Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...
,
Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
, and
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. In January 2022, Tombola was acquired by gambling conglomerate
Flutter Entertainment
Flutter Entertainment plc (formerly Paddy Power Betfair plc) is an Irish gambling holding company created by the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair, and the later acquisition of The Stars Group. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is ...
for £402m.
Products
Not available to customers outside the UK.
''Tombola Bingo'' and ''Tombola Arcade''
online. A bingo app for iOS, Android, and
Amazon Fire
The Amazon Fire, formerly called the Kindle Fire, is a line of tablet computers developed by Amazon. Built with Quanta Computer, the Kindle Fire was first released in November 2011, featuring a color 7-inch multi-touch display with IPS tech ...
(at
Amazon Appstore
Amazon Appstore is an app store for Android-compatible platforms operated by Amazon.com Services, LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon.
The store is primarily used as the storefront for Amazon's Android-based Fire OS. including Amazon Fire tablets, a ...
).
History
Tombola was established in 1999 by Phil Cronin. He had previously worked for his family's business Edward Thompson printers, until 1995. Under the Edward Thompson company name, the Cronin family have provided printed paper bingo tickets to bingo halls since the 1960s.
Tombola 'soft launched' in December 2005 using the Sun Newspaper as a brand, but retaining control of the business. The main launch went ahead in January 2006 as SunBingo. The Sun newspaper provided marketing and branding while Tombola provided the website site, the games, staff, and technical infrastructure. This continued until August 2008 when Tombola became independent from the Sun, continuing on as Tombola, with all the staff being retained at that time. SunBingo continued with the Sun using JackpotJoy software as all Tombola games had been produced in-house by Tombola technicians and continue to do so. The Sun hired their own chat moderating staff as all chat moderation staff working until that time remained with Tombola .
In November 2011, Cronin was awarded Durham & Wearside Business Executive of the Year.
Since 2019, Tombola House is on Low Street, on the
River Wear, half a mile from the center of Sunderland.
In January 2022,
Flutter Entertainment
Flutter Entertainment plc (formerly Paddy Power Betfair plc) is an Irish gambling holding company created by the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair, and the later acquisition of The Stars Group. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is ...
completed the acquisition of Tombola and Cronin stepped down as CEO and sole owner.
Gaming licences
*In November 2011, Tombola was licensed in Italy.
*In June 2012, Tombola was licensed in Spain.
*In February 2018, Tombola was licensed in Portugal.
*In January 2019, Tombola was licensed in Denmark.
*In March 2019, Tombola was licensed in Sweden.
*In October 2021, Tombola was licensed in Netherlands.
Awards
Tombola has won twenty-seven awards since re-launching in 2008:
* 2009: Most Online Bingo Prizes Won,
Best Chat Host Team award
[
* 2010: EGR Awards Online Bingo Operator of the Year,][ Online Bingo Awards Online Bingo Operator of the Year, Most Popular Online Bingo Site,][ Best Online Game Innovation.][
* 2011: Most Popular Online Bingo Site,][
* 2012: Best Bingo Chat Hosts of 2012, Bingo Operator of the Year 2012, Best Overall Online Bingo Operator, Best Online Bingo TV Commercial
* 2013: Bingo Operator of the Year 2013,][
* 2014: Bingo Operator of the Year
* 2015: Customer Services Operator, Socially Responsible Operator
* 2016: Bingo Operator of the Year
* 2017: Socially Responsible Operator, Bingo Operator of the Year
* 2018: Bingo Operator of the Year, Marketing Campaign
* 2019: Socially Responsible Operator, Bingo Operator of the Year, In-House Product
* 2021: Safer Gambling Operator
]
Sponsorship
In November 2009, Tombola began sponsoring, for three years, ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
soap opera ''Emmerdale
''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...
'' in a deal that ran until March 2012.
Charity and community work
In 2012, Tombola became the main sponsors of Sunderland AFC Keroche, an African football club supported by Sunderland AFC fans in England. tombola paid for fifteen boxes of football kits to be shipped to Africa for the team.
In July 2014, Tombola launched the Tombola Academy.
References
{{reflist
External links
www.tombola.com
- 11 May 2000
* https://www.tombola.co.uk
* https://www.tombolaarcade.co.uk
Tombola Online Review
Casino.org
tombola.co.uk Review
Casinos Analyzer
Gambling companies established in 1999
Companies based in the City of Sunderland
1999 establishments in England
Online gambling companies of the United Kingdom
Bingo
2022 mergers and acquisitions