Brazil: Even without regulation, sportsbooks to invest $64M+ in the Brasileirão this year

Sportsbooks dominate the sponsorship space in Brazilian soccer. In 2023, companies in this segment will invest BRL 327 million ($64.75 million) to sponsor 19 of the 20 teams in the A Series of the Brazilian Championship.

The amount seems high but divided among the 19 teams, it results in a monthly average of BRL1.43 million (just over $283 thousand); and per year, the average is BRL 17.2 million per team ($3.4 million).

Currently, only the Corinthians sports club receives an annual sponsorship of more than BRL30 million ($5.9 million), a figure that the government intends to collect in cash for the license that sportsbooks will have to acquire to operate, for five years, in Brazil.

In other words, each sportsbook that intends to continue operating in Brazil by advertising will have to pay an amount higher than the value of the contracts it has with the soccer teams.

Corinthians has a partnership with Pixbet, which provides the team with BRL 35 million ($6.9 million) a year. For displaying the sportsbook's brand on the shoulders of its uniform, the club receives more than the main sponsorship paid by Neo Química, a pharmaceutical company that disburses BRL17 million ($3.3 million).

It is worth mentioning that the government wants to regulate the national sports betting market and seeks to charge taxes and a BRL30 million ($5.9 million) license, valid for five years. This jeopardizes the investment of most of the clubs in the A Series of the Brazilian Championship since the market is closely linked to sponsorships.

A survey conducted by sports marketing agency Neo Brands details how the 19 teams competing in the A Series of the Brazilian Championship maintain their partnerships, displaying the brands of betting sites.

In Serie A, only Cuiabá, from Mato Grosso, has no ties with any betting company. The brands with the most sponsorships within the competition are Pixbet and Esporte da Sorte, both of which have four partnerships with soccer clubs each.

The values invested by this market vary greatly, from BRL5 million ($986,115) paid to Goiás and Red Bull Bragantino to BRL35 million ($6.9 million) paid to Corinthians.

In most cases, the big brands seek to be printed on the jerseys of the clubs. The most frequently selected places are the shoulder blade, the back, the shorts, and the front of the jersey.

Besides Cuiabá, which does not have any partnership with any betting company, Palmeiras does not print the brand of any of them because the contract does not include exposure on the uniform of the men's team.

In approximate values, the five brands that invest the most are:

Pixbet - BRL 96 million ($18.9 million)

Lucky Sports - BRL60.3 million ($11.8 million)

StarBet - BRL36 million ($7.1 million)

Betfair - BRL33 million ($6.5 million)

PearMatch - BRL27.5 million ($5.4 million)

The total investment amount of all sportsbooks amounts to BRL327 million ($64.4 million), according to Neo Brands' research.

In the first division of the Brazilian Championship, sportsbooks occupy the master sponsorship space in 12 of the 20 teams, being the most present segment in Brazilian teams. Botafogo is the club with the largest master sponsorship contract with a sportsbook: BRL27.5 million ($5.4 million) with the company Parimatch.

If all market segments are considered, Botafogo has the third largest main sponsorship contract in the league, after Palmeiras, with Crefisa/FAM, and Flamengo, with BRB bank. Furthermore, São Paulo is just behind Botafogo, with a BRL27 million ($5.3 million) contract with Sportsbet.io. But in the case of SPFC, the sponsorship, besides being master, is printed on the jersey's back of the players' shirts.

The team with the largest main sponsorship contract in the league is Palmeiras, which receives BRL80 million ($15.7 million) a year from Crefisa (a company also owned by the club's president, Leila Pereira). It is followed by Flamengo, which receives BRL30 million ($5.9 million) from BRB bank.

Considering all segments of the market, the total amount spent on major sponsorships of clubs in the A Series of the Brazilian Championship is BRL$356.4 million ($70.2 million). When considering only sponsorships by sportsbooks, the total exceeds BRL 200 million ($39.4 million). In other words, well over half of the amount invested by companies from other sectors is to be featured in the highest-value area of club uniforms.