tombola (bingo company)

Tombola Ltd (stylised as tombola) is a British online bingo company. The headquarters are in Sunderland in the North East of England, with additional offices in Gibraltar, Milan and Madrid. Founded in 2000, its main site, tombola.co.uk has become the largest bingo website in the UK, with more players than any other company, as well as being number one in Spain and Italy.[1]

tombola Ltd
TypePrivate company
IndustryGaming
Founded1999
Headquarters
Sunderland, UK & Gibraltar
Number of locations
3
Areas served
UK, Spain, Italy
Key people
Phil Cronin CEO
Number of employees
300
Websitetombola.co.uk

tombola produce original bingo software and games, created by an in-house development team,[2] and is one of the largest employers of game and web developers in the North East of England.[3]

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.[4]

Since founding tombola, Phil Cronin has been awarded Durham & Wearside Business Executive of the Year 2011.[5] He has also expanded the tombola business into Europe with tombola receiving gaming licences for Spain in July 2012 and later Italy in December 2012.[6]

tombola arcade

tombola arcade is an instant win game site, launched by tombola on 25 July 2016. The site features 6 unique games: spin, scratch, flip, bubble, emoji and pick. All games are built in house and are exclusive to tombola. The site has adopted a low stake strategy to mirror its sister site, tombola.co.uk.

Awards

tombola has won thirteen awards[7] since re-launching in 2008:[8]

  • 2009: Most Online Bingo Prizes Won,[9] Best Chat Host Team award[9]
  • 2010: EGR Awards Online Bingo Operator of the Year,[9]Online Bingo Awards Online Bingo Operator of the Year,[10] Most Popular Online Bingo Site,[11] Most Online Bingo Prizes Won,[11] Best Online Game Innovation.[11]
  • 2011: Most Popular Online Bingo Site,[12] Best Chat Host Team,[12]
  • 2012: Best Bingo Chat Hosts of 2012,[13] Bingo Operator of the Year 2012,[14]
  • 2013: Bingo Operator of the Year 2013,[15] Socially Responsible Operator[15]

Sponsorship

tombola has undertaken a number of sponsorship deals.

In November 2009, the company began sponsoring ITV soap opera Emmerdale[16] in a deal that ran until March 2012.

In April 2010, tombola agreed a deal to sponsor Sunderland AFC for the 2010/11 and 2011/12 English Premier League seasons.[17]

In September 2014 tombola began sponsoring the ITV daytime television show, Loose Women.[18]

In November 2017, tombola arcade began sponsoring I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. The sponsorship was consequently renewed for the 2018 edition of the show.

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.[19]

In July 2014, tombola launched the tombola Academy,[20] a scheme that recruits the most talented young graduates and apprentices from the surrounding area into full-time training at their headquarters in Sunderland.

References
  1. "Sunderland online bingo firm Tombola are top of their game". The Journal. Trinity Mirror North East. 23 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  2. "Oh My Bingo – Review and Bonus from OhMyBingo". Oh My Bingo. Oh My Bingo. 14 November 2014. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  3. "Numbers up? Sunderland bingo giant teams up with college to train apprentice game developers". Sunderland Echo. Johnston Publishing Ltd. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  4. "About (Edward Thompson)". Edward Thompson. Edward Thompson (Printers) Ltd. Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  5. "Durham & Wearside Business Executive of the Year 2011". The Journal. Trinity Mirror North East. 23 November 2011. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  6. "Tombola Coining It In". Bingo Supermarket. Bingo Supermarket Ltd. 24 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  7. "Online Bingo Awards". tombola.co.uk. tombola Ltd. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  8. "Tombola.co.uk crowned UK's top online bingo site". iGaming Business. iGaming Business. 25 November 2010. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  9. "2009 Player's Choice Awards". Bingo Port. Bingo Port. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  10. "My Bingo Bonus". My Bingo Bonus. Triple Hat Media Ltd. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  11. "2010 Players' Choice Awards". Bingo Port. Bingo Port. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  12. "2011 BingoPort.co.uk Players' Choice Awards". Bingo Port. Bingo Port. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  13. "2012 Bingoport.co.uk Players' Choice Awards". Bingo Port. Bingo Port. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  14. "tombola voted Bingo Operator of the Year by eGR". Which Bingo. Which Bingo. 28 November 2012. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  15. "eGR Operator Awards 2013 Winners". EGR Magazine. EGR Awards 2011. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  16. "Bingo website Tombola to sponsor Emmerdale". MediaWeek. Haymarket Media Group Ltd. 7 October 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  17. "SAFC sign up tombola". Sunderland Echo. Johnston Publishing Ltd. 13 April 2010. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  18. "Tombola revealed as new sponsor of Loose Women". The Drum. Carnyx Group Limited. 4 September 2014. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  19. "EPL side officially sets foot in Naivasha". Futaa.com. Futaa.com. 15 February 2012. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  20. "Online bingo firm Tombola sets up talent academy in Sunderland". Sunderland Echo. Johnston Publishing Ltd. 17 September 2014. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
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