The National Bingo Game was the largest computer controlled game until 1994 when the National Lottery was established. The popularity of the lottery had a negative impact upon attendances at bingo clubs and the game of bingo underwent several changes in an attempt to draw back the players. 

The total prize money given by the National Bingo Game in 2003 was over £47m; however, this had dropped to only £37.7 million by 2007 – A clear drop in profits and players.

Similar to the National Lottery, bingo companies were permitted to offer rollover jackpots in September 2007. The National Bingo Game brought in the “Big N” to try and save the business.  This was a separate bingo game that charged £1 per play and gave them the opportunity to play for gold, silver or platinum jackpots that totalled over £1 million in prize money.

Unfortunately the ticket sales for the new bingo jackpot were not high and the prize was not won by players for a long period of time.  The National Game eventually chose to remove the £1 charge and soon introduced a compulsory 50p rise in price for a bingo game in January 2008.

Around the same time, many bingo clubs chose to withdraw from the game completely. This was due to the price rises coming at a time when bingo clubs were still dealing with the drop in bingo players due to the smoking ban.

The new jackpot was then won by three people in 2008. This made them millionaires. However, this was not enough to persuade some bingo companies to continue to play the game.