"The betting segment is the main sponsor of Brazilian football on the most diverse platforms. Companies have invested millions in purchasing assets, as well as in activation funds. As the Libertadores final approached, it was possible to notice an increase in activations by some market players," analyzes Fábio Wolff, Managing Partner of Wolff Sports and specialist in sports marketing, who is responsible for securing contracts between brands involving sports professionals.
"In some Brazilian football matches, those watching can come into contact with more than ten different brands in the betting segment, and to be more educational, we can see brands in the broadcast, in the arena, on the uniforms, on the backdrops, on the carpets, on the substitution signs, on the stretcher truck and on the advertising signs," confirms Renê Salviano, CEO of Heatmap and specialist in sports marketing, who collects contracts between brands involving sports professionals.
"We know that football is the most betted sport, however, in some cases the values are up to five times (5x) what they cost just two years ago," he conlcudes.
Some of these companies also took the opportunity to activate their brands in the week leading up to the decision. Sportingbet had a stand inside the traditional Fanzone promoted by Conmebol, which took place inside Vial Costero until Friday (29). Betanp promoted an advertising campaign called Grito de Galo, with ads on free-to-air and cable TV, digital channels and out-of-home media, exploring the emotions experienced by Atlético fans during football matches.
"With two 'Bets' as master sponsors on the shirts of both finalists, and also of the Copa Libertadores, this decision represents very well the panorama of 'bets' as supporters of clubs and entities in the South American scenario. In Brazil it would be no different, and today we have betting companies as the main financiers of national football for some time now. This movement will only become even more consolidated with the regulation of the industry in the country," says João Fraga, CEO of techfin Paag, a specialist in the betting sector.
Off the pitch, fans who watched the continental final also became familiar with more 'bets' advertisements. TV Globo, which has the exclusive broadcast rights on free-to-air TV, and ESPN, which broadcasts the competition on cable TV, are sponsored by Sportingbet.
“Sponsorships carried out by sports betting companies play an important role in the sports scene, as long as they are conducted responsibly, especially due to the significant financial impact they bring to this great cultural passion of Brazilians. It is a natural movement and resembles the leading role that, in other times, was exercised by brands in segments such as physical and digital banks, in addition to companies in the electronics sector, which also stood out as master sponsors of football clubs,” says Leonardo Henrique Bessa, Partner at Betlaw and member of the board of directors of the Brazilian Consumer Institute and consultant to the Federal Council of the OAB.
"This data only highlights the importance of sponsorship by betting companies for sports and football, as was made quite clear in the public hearing held by the Supreme Court on November 12, where 30 clubs signed a manifesto explaining the extremely serious financial problems that the ban on advertising could cause," adds José Francisco Manssur, partner at the CSMV Advogados law firm, who served as special advisor to the Executive Secretariat of the Ministry of Finance and was in charge of drafting the rules for the fixed-odds betting sector in Brazil.
Source: GMB
