MTV Online Bingo opens in August?

MTV enters online gambling industry

July 26th, 2010 When MTV first launched in 1981, it was a station devoted to playing music videos by hot and up-and-coming artists. Then the station, whose acronym used to mean Music Television, became nothing but a mindless pop culture channel, more likely to have a show about annoying teenagers or a dating show than actually have any music. Now they are evolving again, as the network enters the online gambling market.

Though they started in the U.S., MTV is now global. The UK and Ireland branches of the network now have signed a deal with 888.com to bring an MTV-brand online casino to the people. The deal is a clear move to attract a younger audience to the online gambling market, since people of a certain age would once do anything that MTV says is cool. Therefore, 888 is hoping to use MTV’s influence to bring youth to a new site to play online bingo.

Yes, you read that correctly. They are tapping MTV’s influence on younger demographics for an online bingo site. What, no pinochle? An MTV online poker room sounds like a great marketing idea, but to me MTV doesn’t really scream bingo. I can picture the old, cool MTV trashing a bingo hall. I can see Dan Cortese or Adam Sandler wrecking a bingo hall and tearing up the place, making fun of everyone there. Somehow I can’t imagine Daisy Fuentes standing by a pool in Cancun telling the Spring Breakers that once they check into their hotel room for the night, they should log onto an online bingo site.

I know that MTV lost their edge a long time ago and they lost most people’s respect when their lone music video show, TRL, played only parts of songs while fans talked over them by giving shout-outs. Still, it hurts me to see MTV like this. I realize that it’s been a long time since anyone has said “I want my MTV,” but are they so out of it that they’re sponsoring bingo?

To be fair, bingo is more popular among young crowds than it once was, especially online bingo. The online casino is trying to increase that trend, bringing more youth to the game. It’s a risky move, though. Selling a cooler game, like poker or blackjack, would be an easier trick for them and MTV.

The MTV online bingo website will launch in August and will be promoted on MTV’s channels and websites in the UK and Ireland. If this had happened 20 years ago, you could almost guarantee success, but today when MTV does something, does anyone really care? I doubt it, but maybe if the bingo hall offers “money for nothing and chicks for free” we can have this discussion again.