A TV journalist reports that some football clubs could openly back the PL candidate, who previously suggested he would allow sports betting but not online casino
Brazilian football clubs lost their betting sponsors overnight and are now weighing a political response.
According to BandNews TV journalist Rodolfo Schneider, some could openly endorse Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) in the presidential runoff, after Lula’s government banned fixed-odds betting days before the 4 October first round.
A partial reopening on offer
Speaking on the BandNews TV programme ‘X da Questão‘ on 6 October, Schneider said clubs could declare support “openly” for the PL candidate and that talks had involved clubs such as Corinthians. No club has publicly confirmed any endorsement.
Schneider said Bolsonaro has stated that, if elected, he would allow sports betting but keep online casinos, such as the so-called “Jogo do Tigrinho”, banned. If delivered, that would reopen the market only in part. It is not clear by what instrument or on what timetable. Lula, for his part, has tied Bolsonaro to the survival of betting in videos posted on social media.
Clubs count the cost
Flamengo has taken the issue to the Supreme Federal Court (STF). On 30 September it asked to join case ADI 8027, which challenges the provisional measure, as an amicus curiae, to set out the effects on sponsorship contracts and sports funding. In a statement, the club said it does not oppose regulation of the sector. Its president, Luiz Eduardo Baptista, put the hole in its finances at around R$400m. According to ESPN, other clubs are not currently discussing going to the STF.
Fluminense, whose main sponsor is Superbet, asked a labour court in Rio de Janeiro to extend to 30 October the deadline for its September instalment under a scheme that pools its labour debts, citing the measure’s immediate financial impact. The club also argues that, as a provisional measure, the ban could be revoked or lapse in Congress, which would restore its sponsorship contracts. Lawyer Marcelo Robalinho, of RA Law, said that in practice the risk of the club’s business shifts to the former employees it owes.
Clubs are also trying to fill the gap on their shirts. At São Paulo and Fluminense, the Superscore football statistics app has replaced Superbet. The company says the app carries no advertising or odds.
Operators keep their distance
Antonio Forjaz, Latin America CEO of Sportingbet, told Poder360 that the impact on football goes beyond sponsorship, which averages 7% to 8% of club revenue. He said the sector also pushed up the price of broadcast rights, stadium LED boards and league naming rights, though he could not give an exact figure without a dedicated study.
Forjaz told Meio & Mensagem that the sector is worth around R$40bn and that this money could vanish from the Brazilian economy. He also acknowledged that adjustments to regulation were needed. He told Poder360 he would not comment on whether the timing of the measure was linked to the election, but that the aim is to get a regulated market back, even with adjustments, and that if the ban becomes law his company’s operation cannot be sustained in the country.
Elsewhere in the sector, an industry manifesto under the hashtag #NósApostamosNoBrasil defends the regulated market. Among the content creators who joined, Nay Menininha went further and urged her followers to vote for Bolsonaro.
What to watch
The market’s future depends on three fronts. Congress must approve the measure for it to remain valid. The STF is hearing challenges to it, including ADI 8027, and the runoff result on 25 October will determine whether Bolsonaro’s promise becomes policy.
So far, neither the clubs named nor the PL campaign have officially confirmed any rapprochement. Operators are avoiding independent statements and are relying on the positions of industry associations the ANJL and the IBJR, pending the outcome of the runoff.
Créditos: https://next.io/news/betting/brazil-football-clubs-weigh-backing-bolsonaro/