SportyBet, a sports betting brand that is part of SportyGroup, announced its entry into the Mexican market through a sponsorship deal with Cancún FC, a club in the Liga de Expansión. The partnership was made official on 18 March 2026 via a press release. The deal’s value, length and whether it includes shirt placement were not disclosed.

What the deal includes

According to the release, the brand gets fan areas inside the stadium, named the “Tourist Lounge – Pool Box” and “The Sporty Corner”. The deal also includes a “Sporty Hero” award for Player of the Match or Player of the Month, special match-day activities and experiences built around Mexican culture.

The release carries statements from Salvador Cuadros, SportyBet’s country manager, and Giovanni Solazzi, vice president and director general of Cancún FC. It also presents José Mourinho as the brand’s official ambassador.

The release ran across many outlets with little or no change; at least one published version kept an unfilled template field where the club executive’s name should have been. We could not find the original on SportyBet’s or Cancún FC’s own channels.

Digital presence and the LaLiga deal

The Mexican operation uses the sportybet.mx domain. The SportyBet México account on X says it joined in July 2025, and the iOS app “SportyBet: Casa de Apuestas” is listed as published by Sporty Internet Group.

Months after the Cancún FC announcement, on 10 June 2026, LaLiga named SportyBet its Official Betting Partner in Mexico. LaLiga said the deal follows the brand’s launches in Brazil and Africa. Igor Liporase, SportyBet’s regional director for Latin America, called Mexico “the next logical step in our global expansion”.

Permit status unconfirmed

In Mexico, any betting operation needs a Segob permit, and the domain must appear on the list of authorised websites kept by the Dirección General de Juegos y Sorteos (DGJS). A licence issued in another country does not replace that permit.

Third-party sites that reproduce the DGJS list from June 2026 show sportybet.mx linked to the permit holder Producciones Móviles, with the status “baja temporal” (temporarily inactive). In that version of the list, 86 of 136 domains were shown as operating. These sites are not the regulator and earn affiliate revenue; iGaming.mx has not checked the figure directly against the current DGJS file.

We also found no Segob notice or Diario Oficial de la Federación entry linked to the deal. The announcements we reviewed do not address the permit question.

What it means for operators and affiliates

The entry strategy is clear: a second-division club as the first showcase, followed by a high-profile international property in LaLiga, backed by a global ambassador in Mourinho. For established operators, it is another brand with multinational backing competing for visibility in football.

For affiliates, the key issue is compliance. If the “baja temporal” status is still in place, the domain would not appear as active on the DGJS list, which would carry regulatory and reputational risk for anyone promoting it. Before signing deals or publishing content about any brand, it makes sense to check the current DGJS list directly and confirm both the permit holder and the domain.

The lack of commercial details, such as the sponsorship’s value and duration, makes it impossible to gauge the real size of SportyBet’s commitment to Mexico. For now, what is confirmed are the sponsorship announcements; the permit status still needs verification.

This article is based on public information available at the time of publication. We try to verify the facts, but figures and details may contain errors or change, and iGaming.mx accepts no responsibility for their accuracy. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. Spotted a mistake? Email us.