Brazilian football clubs spend millions of reais a year on hiring new players to reinforce their rosters. A good part of this revenue comes from sports achievements, exclusive campaigns with fans and, mainly, from master sponsorship contracts on the shirt – with banks and bookmakers dominating these prime spaces.
Several recognized companies in the country have partnerships with Brazilian teams, but the segment that dominates in shirts is sports betting. The industry was one of the fastest growing in Brazil in recent years – even without adequate regulation for bookmakers after approval in 2018 by the then government of Michel Temer.
Check the list of the 10 biggest master sponsors of Brazilian football
1st – Palmeiras – Crefisa: Palmeiras, owner of the most expensive shirt among Brazilian clubs, receives around R$ 80 million per year just with the sponsorship of Crefisa and Faculdade das Américas. Both companies belong to the same owner, the president of Palmeiras, Leila Pereira.
2 – Flamengo – Banco BRB: Flamengo, one of the main Brazilian clubs in activity since 2019, has been receiving great praise for its extremely effective management and accurate spending that gives results. A great hit in the experts’ view was the master sponsorship with Banco BRB, which pays the club around R$ 30 million.
3 – Botafogo – Parimatch: Botafogo, a club bought by American businessman John Textor, who also owns Crystal Palace, recently closed a partnership with Parimatch that will yield annual earnings of R$ 27.5 million. This is the third largest master shirt sponsorship in Brazil.
4 – São Paulo – Sportsbet: Closed in 2022, the partnership between São Paulo and Sportsbet will deliver earnings of R$ 24 million per year to Tricolor Paulista.
5 – Vasco da Gama – Pixbet: Vasco da Gama, aided by a new management, managed to renew its contract with the bookmaker Pixbet – one of the largest in the country. The contract values were not disclosed, but should exceed R$ 18 million per year.
6 – Bahia – Esportes da Sorte: Bahia, purchased by the City Group in 2022, began to show positive signs of new management. The club recently announced that its main sponsor, Esportes da Sorte, will pay R$ 19 million per season starting this year – when Tricolor returns to the elite of the Brasileirão.
7 – Corinthians – Neo Química: Neo Química, a medicine company with a history at the club, in addition to buying the naming rights for the Corinthians stadium, also prints its brand as a master sponsor on Timão’s shirt, with amounts that reach R$ 17 million a year.
8 – Fluminense and Atlético-MG – Betano: Betano, a sports betting house with closed contracts with Fluminense and Atlético-MG, pays both clubs around R$ 15 million annually.
9 – Santos – Pixbet: Pixbet, the same master sponsor of Vasco da Gama, earns Santos around R$ 10 million a year – a much smaller amount when compared to the Rio club.
10 – Internacional and Grêmio – Banrisul: The most representative clubs in Rio Grande do Sul, Internacional and Grêmio, are sponsored by Banco Banrisul and both are entitled to R$ 10 million per year.
