Sportingbet is in negotiations with the Palmeiras men's team to be its future master sponsor in place of the current Crefisa.
Palmeiras' next sponsor is unlikely to have an exclusive contract, like those of Crefisa and FAM, which are about to expire. President Leila Pereira recently signaled that she thinks it is healthy to seek new partners with the club. The board's plan is to close a deal worth around R$150 million (US$ 27.5m) per year in sponsorships across all properties of the team, with the possibility of reaching R$170 million (US$ 31.25m) if goals are met.
Two sources told the newspaper Estadão that Leila Pereira is not in favor of the idea of ??having a national betting house as Palmeiras' main sponsor, but she approves of a solid foreign betting house with a long history in the market, and she sees this in Sportingbet. When contacted, the club and the betting house did not comment.
So far, all contacts with Brazilian betting houses have not progressed. Betnacional, Pixbet and Esportes da Sorte have expressed interest in sponsoring the team, but have not come close to progressing in the talks. Betnacional even presented a proposal of R$100 million per year, but the club's marketing department did not respond.
Some people within Palmeiras are still concerned about having a betting house in the most prestigious space on the uniform, but they understand that Sportingbet is a solid and reliable company. The betting house is an official sponsor of Conmebol and displays its brand in the Libertadores, Sul-Americana and Recopa, in addition to sponsoring football on Globo.
Last July, Sportingbet requested authorization from the Prizes and Betting Department of the Ministry of Finance to operate in the fixed-odds betting and online gaming market in Brazil. The sector was regulated after Congress approved the law at the end of last year, sanctioned on December 29 by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, which established criteria for taxation and standards for the commercial exploitation of fixed-odds betting and defined the distribution of revenue collected and set sanctions. However, the new rules will only come into effect next year.
To operate in the country, betting houses will have to comply with a series of requirements determined by the Ministry of Finance, including being headquartered in Brazil and paying a fee of up to R$30 million (US$ 5.5m).
When consulted by GMB, Sportingbet's press office said it had no information on the matter.
End of the Crefisa era?
At the event in which she officially launched her candidacy for reelection to the presidency, Leila indicated that her companies, Crefisa and FAM, will stop sponsoring the club after a decade.
“I’ll tell you in advance: I think it’s healthy for us to have other partners,” the director said. “Crefisa may leave Palmeiras’ jersey, but Palmeiras will never leave the life of the president of Crefisa. I think everything has a cycle in life, we did a lot for Palmeiras, and Palmeiras did a lot for my companies.”
With Crefisa and FAM, Palmeiras had the largest sponsorship in the country, but the values ??became outdated and its rivals started to have more valuable jerseys, especially after the bookmakers dominated the market.
The current agreement yields a fixed R$81 million per season to Palmeiras - with the possibility of reaching R$120 million (US$ 22m) if goals are achieved by winning titles. Leila's companies have been paying this amount since 2019. In 2021, then-president Maurício Galiotte renewed the agreement for more and decided to maintain the figures, without including a clause for readjustment and correction of the values, which generated criticism from fans who believe that the sponsorship is outdated, pointing out that rivals have been able to obtain more lucrative agreements.
Since she stated that she would open up competition, Leila has defended her companies and said that she will not get “in this mess” regarding higher amounts that sponsors pay to Palmeiras' opponents. According to her, the negotiations are made to keep possible “adventurers”, that is, unreliable companies, away.
Source: GMB
