Even though sportsbooks in Brazil are not yet regulated by the government, they make up the lion’s share of sponsorships for the A Series of the Brazilian Championship, the Brasileirão.
Yogonet reports that a survey by the sports marketing agency Neo Brands shows that in 2023 the sports betting sector will invest BRL 327 million ($64.75 million) this year to sponsor 19 of the 20 teams participating in the tournament.
That is an annual average of BRL 17.2 million per team ($3.4 million).
Only one team in Series A, Cuiabá, is not sponsored by any sportsbook company.
The Yogonet report provides an example of such a sponsorship: that paid by Pixbet with the Corinthians soccer team. That sponsorship is BRL 35 million ($6.9 million) a year. In return the team displays Pixbet’s brand on its jerseys. Pixbet and Esporte da Sorte have the most sponsorships, each with four football clubs.
Sportsbooks will soon cease to operate in the current Wild West environment. Poder 360 reports that the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula) is in the process of adopting regulations for sports betting, including taxing the industry at a rate of 15 percent. This Provisional Measure leans heavily on the U.K. model.
The government has sent a draft of the regulations to the Office of Attorney General of the National Treasury (PGFN). That office will analyze it in terms of its constitutionality.
Last week the government hosted a meeting of stakeholders, including the main soccer clubs, CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) and government ministers, to hear their concerns. A demand of CBF is a larger share of the sports betting revenues. The current share is 1.63 percent. CBF seeks 4 percent.
The clubs seek to alter how betting revenues are distributed by eliminating the role of the CBF, which now distributes them. It also seeks flexibility in license fees so that sponsorships won’t be jeopardized.
Sportsbooks will have to pay a license fee of BRL30 million ($5.92 million) for a five year license. Each sportsbook operating in the country will have to pay a larger amount for its license than the value of the sponsorships it has with the football teams.
According to Poder 360, the Provisional Measure will also tax instant lotteries—which have not operated since 2020 since the Instant Star consortium abandoned the scratcher concession. Once they are legal again they are expected to generate BRL 5 billion a year ($986.88 million) in taxes.
The five sportsbet brands that spend the most on sponsorships 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) and PearMatch – BRL27.5 million ($5.4 million).
