Spain
T
he Spanish sports betting market didn’t officially open until 2008 when sports betting was allowed in dedicated betting
shops and betting kiosks plus remote betting via internet or telephone.
Prior to this the stance on betting was fairly relaxed and for years you could find betting shops set up to take wagers in most cities and although illegal they were left alone. Online betting was also unregulated.
Although the state run lottery offered twice weekly football pools games this, plus the odd workplace sweepstake and informal wager, was all the
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Spanish had initially until the law changed.
The Spanish market is a minefield, as each of the 17 regional governments all have the power to establish their own gaming laws, licensing fee and number of licences.
The process to legalise sports betting initially was slow. In the beginning only Madrid and the Basque Country regulated the activity and the first betting shop opened in Madrid in April 2008. A licence was given to William Hill and Codere who launched the Victoria Apuestas brand with the aim of opening up 70 sports betting shops in the Madrid area. This partnership ended a year later and William Hill
concentrated on its online activity in the Spanish market and Codere now operates under the brand Codere Apuestas.
Today Codere is the leader in the betting shop market with shops in Madrid, Basque Country, Navarra, Aragon, Valencia, Galicia, Murcia and Castilla la Mancha, Ceuta, Cataluña, La Rioja and Extremadura. They have more than 1,500 betting points installed in gaming halls, bingos and casinos.
Other big partnerships include Cirsa and Ladbrokes who joined up in 2007 to create a joint venture company called Sportium, whilst in 2013 they expanded into the online betting sector with
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