The Liguilla era triggers the consumption of sports betting in Mexico. According to data shared with The Economist On the part of Codere, one of the gambling companies with a presence in Liga MX, the boost is up to 30%.
“We start with an initial phase, the regular phase, which has an increase of 10% on the number of players we have and in the higher phases it increases by 30%. We hope to see more interesting results as the semifinals take place,” says Salo Leder, regional director of Codere Online since 2019.
In an interview with this newspaper, Leder shares that Liga MX is constantly on the podium of sporting events with the highest number of users for Codere Online in Mexico.
“The Liga MX is within the top 3. This year we also had the Copa América and a couple of years ago the World Cup, but without a doubt the Liga MX accompanies us throughout an important season of the year and the Liguilla is the culmination of these events . “It competes with the Super Bowl and the Champions League, however, the consistency that Liga MX gives us is fundamental and accompanies us for a long time.”
Before the start of the Apertura 2024 semifinals, which pit Atlético de San Luis against Monterrey and Cruz Azul against América, a total of 701 online betting options were observed in Codere for both matches, regarding which players will score a certain amount of goals, scoring minutes, starts and more.
Sports betting has solid value in Mexico. According to the report ‘The Mexican Online Gambling Market’, published in 2023, it is an industry worth $2 billion a year, although it is estimated that 90% of that amount comes from unlicensed operators.
This report also indicates that the projection for 2024 is that Mexico has 83 million bettors, although at a general level. The specific estimate of sports betting is that it accounts for 40% of the country’s total population, that is, about 52 million people.
“Every year is different. We have grown quite a bit compared to the previous year, which is why the percentage also varies and this added value that the teams that are playing in the Liguilla have makes the balance tilt to one side. It is actually a quite interesting percentage and shows that it has generated attention. We believe that it is a percentage that could continue to grow,” adds Leder.
According to its website, Codere.mx began operations in 2019. The minimum deposit is 100 pesos and the minimum withdrawal is 10, concentrating events in disciplines such as soccer, baseball, basketball, American football, boxing and others.
Link with Liga MX
Six betting companies have had some sponsorship relationship with Mexican soccer teams recently, both in Liga MX and Liga de Expansión: Caliente with more than 10, highlighting América and Cruz Azul; Betcris with Pachuca and León; Codere with Rayados de Monterrey, Ganabet with Santos Laguna; Play Do It with Necaxa; and Strendus with Alebrijes from Oaxaca.
For this text, The Economist He also sought the opinions of Caliente and Strendus, but neither agreed to the request.
In the case of Codere, it became a sponsor of Rayados in 2021 for a first period of three years, but this March they extended the relationship until 2029. Also in 2024 they included their women’s branch in their sponsorship. Monterrey is the only team they sponsor in Liga MX.
“We consider it a first-class partner. We just renewed our contract, we have an incredible relationship that allows us to get closer to the people of Monterrey and all those who support Rayados in a special way,” says the manager.
“Rayados was always a winning bet. It is a first-class company and club, from the leaders to all the people who work there and it has worked very well for us. Every opportunity and project that is presented to us and we present, we try to work on in the best way. The doors (to more Liga MX teams) are always open, but at the moment we are only with Rayados.”
One of the advantages of Liga MX as an option for betting houses is that it is active practically from January to December with its format of two short tournaments a year (and two Liguillas). Other international leagues, such as the NFL, MLB or NBA, do not last more than seven months.
In Mexico, soccer continues to be the favorite sport on a mass level. That has weight for Codere’s strategy, which in other countries also has sponsorship relationships with elite teams such as Real Madrid and River Plate.
“Today we operate in Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Argentina and Spain. Mexico is, without a doubt, the most important country, we really put in a lot of work effort, we have a tremendous team and it represents a fairly important part of our efforts at the global company level,” concludes the regional director of Codere Online.
