“We are betting on a serious company with great potential for growth, which relied on a daring proposal and the leadership of Flamengo's engagement in social networking among Latin American clubs,” says Maurício Portela, the club's marketing director.
The contract does not involve shirt exposure. Under the agreement, the ‘Rubro-Negro’ team will receive a fixed annual amount and another variable, according to the number of new customers that the club can generate for the company.
Atlético-MG, Bahia, Botafogo, Corinthians, Cruzeiro, Fortaleza, Fluminense, Santos and Vasco already have contracts in force, signed this year.
Regulation
The permission for betting sites to operate in Brazil was obtained with the approval of law 13756, last year, still under the former president Temer government.
Now, the federal government has a two-year term (extendable by two more) to regulate the sector. That is, to define the rules to be followed for the performance of the betting sites.
“In fact, people have been using them for a long time (the betting sites), but the money was going out of the country. It is better that, now, it stays in the country generating revenue for the government and private initiative,” analyzes Marcelo Paz, president of Fortaleza.
According to O GLOBO, the regulation can be announced in September.
“Today, it is estimated that the sites that offer sports betting in Brazil move more than R$ 4 billion (US$ 1.05bn) per year. Only part of this money is in Brazil as a payment award,” analyzes Pedro Trengrouse, a professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and a specialist in the subject.
It is a considerable amount to be moved internally in the economy. With that, the Brazilian local teams expect that the new sector will invest even more in sponsorship the national football leagues.
The arrival comes in good time, just before the exit of the Caixa Federal as main investor in the shirts of Series A and B of the Brasileirão.
“If this regulation comes soon, betting sites are expected to become an important sponsor for Brazilian clubs, as is already happening in European tournaments such as the Premier League,” analyzes Bruno Maia, vice president of marketing for Vasco, which already has a contract with NetBet signed earlier this year.
The next season of the English Championship will have betting sites as master sponsors in the jersey of ten of the 20 elite clubs.
In Spain, Bet365 sponsors 10 of the elite's 20 teams, and it also owns the naming rights of the Stoke City stadium in England.
The interest in the theme led the Paulista Football Federation (FPF) to schedule a seminar at the end of the month. One of the speakers will be Alexandre Manoel da Silva, National Secretary of Public Policy, Planning, Energy and Lottery Evaluation of the Ministry of Economy, who will define the regulation of sports betting in Brazil.
Manipulation of results
The regulation of betting sites in the country will have to answer a crucial question in the sector: how will bets be audited to avoid cases of manipulation of results.
The history of Brazil is not good on this field. In 2005, 11 games of the Brasileirão were annulled, directly influencing the final classification of the competition. All due to the denunciation of fixed results to favor bettors of sites at the time illegal in Brazil.
In conjunction with companies, it will be possible to monitor betting patterns, inhibiting similar cases.
“More important than generating money for football is combating the manipulation of results. The key is to maintain the integrity of the sport” says Pedro Trengrouse, expert professor in the subject and only Brazilian member of the International Association of Gaming Advisors (Aiga).
Source: GMB / Adalberto Leister Filho - O Globo
