After jointly pushing Codere Online to a dual historical record in Q1 in the core markets of Mexico and Spain, CEO Avi Shalel used the word "undervalued" to summarize the core logic of its strategy. In an exclusive interview, he stated that the company does not need to chase new markets to generate growth, as it already has sufficient scale and brand recognition in Spain and Mexico. Instead, continuing to deepen its presence in these two markets is the path with the highest risk-adjusted returns. Mexico's net gaming revenue climbed 13% to 34.6 million euros, and the Spanish market grew 16% to 25.5 million euros, with the company's quarterly net gaming revenue and adjusted EBITDA reaching 64.4 million euros and 6 million euros respectively, both setting new historical highs.
Incremental returns and bonus redesign in Spain
As a mature and highly regulated market, Spain achieves growth more through gradual accumulation rather than abrupt changes. Shalel attributed Q1's growth to a combination of multiple factors, particularly highlighting a key adjustment at the product level—the redesign of the welcome bonus. By shifting the bonus from a simple new user incentive to precisely targeting high-quality cross-selling players with potential for cross-category consumption, the company successfully boosted the growth of active player numbers, with the average monthly active players in the Spanish market now reaching 59,000. Shalel believes that the regulatory environment in Spain favors operators who build moats around experience, trust, and user retention, rather than merely relying on promotional subsidies to maintain market share. Notably, there is no immediate pressure to raise gambling taxes in Spain, providing a relatively stable regulatory buffer period for operators focused on long-term customer value rather than short-term promotions.
The World Cup is not just a traffic pulse but a lifetime value opportunity
Regarding the upcoming World Cup, Shalel offers a perspective quite different from the mainstream narrative in the industry. He does not see it as a brief traffic pulse event, but as a rare dual window for customer acquisition and lifetime value conversion. With deep-rooted football cultures in Mexico and Spain, the World Cup audience far exceeds the regular online gambling user base, making it a strong catalyst for effectively converting new players into long-term active customers. In Shalel's view, if a new user who first contacts the platform during the World Cup can be given an excellent initial experience, there is a chance to turn them into a long-term loyal customer. This logic repositions the World Cup from a short-term customer acquisition tool to a starter button for the long-term customer value chain.
PASA official website continues to track the latest developments in global gambling operators' core market strategies and senior management philosophies, noting that Codere Online, in an industry generally pursuing rapid multi-market expansion, insists on a differentiated path of deep cultivation in core markets, providing a strategic reference sample oriented towards user lifecycle value.
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