Sports betting companies sponsor 60% of Brazil’s football clubs

A total of 25 clubs receive resources from the sports betting industry, 14 of which are at the top of the Brazilian football league system, while the remaining 11 belong to the second division.

Among the main names that compete for a spot in the teams’ shirts are Casa de Apostas (Bahía, Botafogo and Santos), Betsul (Atlético-MG, Coritiba, Grêmio and São Paulo), NetBet (Red Bull Bragantino and Vasco), Estadium Bet (Ceará), Galera Group (Corinthians), Sportsbet.io (Flamengo), Galera.net (Sport) and EsporteNet (Fortaleza).

As for the Series B, betting companies include Casa de Apostas (Vitória), Estadium.Bet (Avaí, CRB, Nautico and Paraná), Betsul (Ponte Preta and Chapecoense), EsporteNet (Confiança), Galera Group (Cruzeiro), Bets1 (Sampaio Correa) and LeoVegas (Guarani).

"We are speaking about a market that, in spite of being relatively new, is highly reliable. We are currently undergoing a regulatory process, led by the Ministry of Economy and I believe we are going to experience a bright future since Brazil is among the main markets in the world. Chances are this activity will become increasingly popular and strong once regulated," said Hans Schleier, marketing director at Casa de Apostas.

Currently, there are about 450 foreign sports betting sites operating in Brazil, which pay no taxes whatsoever. In December 2018, the federal government signed Law 13,756/2018, which authorizes the Ministry of Economy to create rules for the operation of sports betting in Brazil.

Legislation was expected to come into force in 2019 but it was postponed to 2020 and now, it is likely that it will become effective once the pandemic is overcome.

"We believe it will be a huge step in the sports betting market and it will boost not only the economy of football clubs but also other sports," Hans Schleier concluded.