The sports betting arm of Spanish gaming operator Codere has inked a multi-year betting partnership with football powerhouse Real Madrid.
On Wednesday, Codere Apuestas and Real Madrid announced the signing of a new three-year official betting partnership. The parties sealed the deal in the presidential box at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, where Codere Group CEO José Antonio Martinez Sampedro (pictured left) was presented with a ceremonial jersey by the team’s director of institutional relations Emilio Butragueño (pictured right).
Butragueño said the tie-up may be scheduled to last three years but “our desire is it for it to be long-haul.” The deal ensures Codere’s visibility among La Liga fans, coming as it does following the scheduled end of Codere’s one-year sponsorship of Real Madrid rival Valencia.
Codere has already launched a dedicated Real Madrid section on the company’s upgraded Spanish-facing betting site Codore.es, which made its fresh-faced debut late last month. Codere launched a major marketing push to pimp the new site and its wider variety of casino content, including slots from NetEnt.
Codere, which was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy prior to a major restructuring in 2014, generated revenue of €377.7m in Q3, down 9% from the same period last year. Earnings were similarly down 9.1% to €61.6m. The company blamed the bulk of the downturn on devaluation of the Argentine peso and depreciation of the Mexican peso.
Codere’s Latin American revenue collectively fell 15.8% to €257.1m in Q3. Argentina led the losers, falling 23.5% to €140m, while Mexico fell 3.2% to €82.6m and Panama dropped 0.8% to €25.4m. The smaller operations in Colombia, Uruguay and Brazil were also firmly in the negative.
Codere fared better in Europe, where Italian revenue gained 12.7% to €70m and Spain improved 4.5% to €40m. As of September 30, Codere operated 144 gaming halls, 150 betting shops and 55,219 electronic gaming machines across its global footprint.
