Grupo Televisa, Mexico’s largest entertainment corporation, intends to separate its interests in football, gaming, and lottery. Shareholders unanimously agreed in April to separate the units from its mass media activities, forming a new fully-fledged entity. To facilitate the strategic milestone, the entertainment conglomerate has made significant investments in properties and equipment. Televisa intends to complete the reorganization process by June 30th, 2023, to pave the way for the development of the promising venture.
Televisa’s Watershed Moment
Grupo Televisa, a Mexican media conglomerate, has recently decided to expand its presence in the gambling industry by investing in the creation of new bookmakers in the market. When the milestone was announced, the corporation’s board of directors explained its intention to establish another Mexican Stock Exchange-registered company to help Televisa’s position in the growing gambling industry.
Televisa is already well-known in the lottery industry, with 7,000 gaming machines, 18 PlayCity casinos, and a $20 million expansion investment. The multimedia mass media corporation is also well-known for its well-established online gaming platforms and regular ‘Sorteos del Trébol’ football lottery draws. The company’s recent success in gambling ventures inspired the new strategy. The corporation made $4.1 billion in revenue last year. Its gambling businesses contributed a large portion of the revenue, approximately $407 million, a 42% increase from the 243 million in 2021.
The recent successful expansions of the corporation also inspire the plan to establish a separate gambling entity. Televisa successfully merged with Univision in January 2022, forming TelevisaUnion. Because it operates in the vast markets of the United States, Mexico, and Central America, the new entity has earned a high ranking among the world’s largest Hispanic media companies.
The Increased Advantage
Televisa’s management believes that the planned business separation must meet a number of conditions, including corporate and regulatory approval. It means that the process may take some time before it is completed. However, once completed, the proposed separate legal entity is expected to reap several benefits not currently available.
The new entity, according to Televisa management, will improve focus on specific activities. The mother company will be free of gambling-related activities. The new entity will concentrate on catering to the newly expanded Hispanic content market, allowing it to maximize its potential. Similarly, the new company will concentrate on its business model and growth opportunities, increasing its chances of meeting its objectives.
The new company will be in charge of managing all online and offline business activities. In soccer, the entity will manage several clubs, including Club de Futbol América and Club de Futbol Cruz Azul. Although Mexico’s gambling industry is still in its infancy, it has enormous growth potential. Televisa is already a major player in the industry, and increased focus promises even greater success in the near future.
Benefits of Business Separation
The management of Televisa believes that listing the new firm on the BMV will have additional advantages. Each business will have better access to finance and financing options in terms of investment. Both are more likely to draw investors whose goals coincide with those of the respective companies. Investors are unlikely to turn away from either company, despite the possibility that it happened as a result of the other’s existence. To lessen the chance of losing to an unproven company initiative, the majority of investors favor well-specified business projects. Investors will be able to choose their chosen firm with ease because each company will have a comparable yet distinct management style. The new partnership would have the same shareholder structure as the parent firm, according to management. All of these elements support the new business’s confidence.
Final Thoughts
Operators have been paying close attention to the changing gambling landscape in Mexico, with companies like Coolbet Sportsbook entering the market early this year. This shows that operators are becoming more and more drawn to Mexico as a promising market. With its wealth of knowledge and solid reputation, Televisa is well-positioned to take advantage of this chance and support the nation’s thriving gambling business.
Televisa is better prepared than ever to take on new challenges, develop new businesses, and expand beyond its current boundaries. It benefits from the recent merger and is also operating in a new market where it already has a strong foothold. We can safely predict that, as it grows, the separate gambling-related company will successfully cater to the needs of the Mexican market and support its growth from its current infancy to a better version of itself. According to TelevisaUnion, it is a new dawn in the making, and only time will tell if it is a successful plan.