Fatal Fans executive details Corinthians tie-up, women's plans | OneFootball

Announced as Corinthians’ new sponsor through the end of 2027, Fatal Fans began its first integration efforts this week with club representatives. In an interview with the program Entre Linhas, from Meu Timão, executive Samuel Ongaratto detailed the company’s plans for the start of the partnership, commented on the actions planned for the sponsored sports, and explained the decision not to display the commercial brand on the women’s team uniform.

According to the executive, a Corinthians delegation was in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, where the company is headquartered, to align work strategies between the two sides.

Photo: Disclosure/Corinthians

“On Tuesday, a Corinthians delegation arrived here and stayed with us throughout the day. We had the opportunity to work, talk, and exchange ideas. The next day, there was an institutional presentation by Corinthians with a special focus on women’s football here at our company. We had a visit from Corinthians represented by Vini (Vinícius Manfredi), the marketing director, the communications director, the women’s football director, and a few other leaders within the club, precisely so we could discuss what the day-to-day work will look like going forward, actions we can take together, things we should avoid, things we should pursue, issues along those lines. The exchange was really positive, and we understand that this integration—knowing that the Fatal Fans brand has its particularities, that it is different from others because it also hosts adult content—we understand that building this rapport is the best tool so we can work in the best possible way.”

The contract between Corinthians and Fatal Fans provides for an investment of R$ 22 million through the end of 2027, covering men’s football, women’s football, futsal, and basketball. According to Ongaratto, the company’s communication will be based on institutional campaigns, without directly promoting the platform’s commercial content.

“Our way of working will be very similar to what we already did with Vitória and other clubs. Our company works with institutional or educational advertising. That means Corinthians fans will not see a QR code inviting them to access the site and buy content, nor an ad inviting them to become content creators. Our advertising will be institutional, always bringing some message, such as respect, safety, dignity, something along those lines, together with the company’s visual brand elements.”

The executive also cited examples of activations carried out at other clubs sponsored by the company.

“The ways of activating will also be similar. At Vitória, for example, we suspended a car from a crane during a Brasileirão Série B final match and raffled off a car for the fans. Another activation we did was the Fatal Hunt, where we have a van that will circulate through the city’s tourist spots, handing out shirts to supporters.”

Women’s football will have social campaigns

During the interview, Ongaratto explained that Corinthians requested that the Fatal Fans commercial brand not be displayed on the women’s football uniforms. Instead, the space will be used for awareness campaigns and social projects developed in partnership with the club.

“It was a request from the club. We were very receptive to all the requests it understood could generate some risk to the Corinthians brand. So we met all the requirements and were very accommodating about it. And that one (the women’s shorts) was a requirement in the negotiation, that the space be allocated to social projects, especially ‘Respeita as Minas,’ which has values very similar to ours—respect, safety, and dignity. And it has a lot to do with the fight against prejudice.”

According to the executive, the company also adopts protocols to prevent minors from being impacted by promotional actions.

“These activations are built by many hands. Our marketing department works together with the club’s marketing team, partners, press office, and agency to define the tone of the activation, what is appropriate or not. We always try to leave out children and underage teenagers. We are not going to hand out a shirt with the brand on it to a child. The same goes for betting activations: there is a restriction, you cannot do a betting or beer activation for someone under 18. We will work the same way. Fatal Fans is not a product designed for underage people. We have mechanisms aimed at ensuring that people under 18 cannot buy content. Will that person be able to access Fatal Fans? Yes. But they will not see anything major, because the moment they try to buy age-restricted content, there is a verification of who is buying that content. And then there is a block if that person is under 18.”

Funds will be allocated to the sports

Commenting on the negotiation with Corinthians, Samuel Ongaratto said that one of the club’s main concerns during the talks was ensuring the continuity of sports such as futsal and men’s basketball, as well as offering better conditions for women’s football.

“It was not mentioned to us (women’s basketball). There was great concern from the club about keeping these sports that we are supporting (men’s futsal and basketball). What we heard is that this would be the last year for basketball, for example, and that futsal was at risk. And that if this injection of capital did not come, that would happen. So the focus of the conversation the whole time was the imminent possibility of these two sports shutting down. And regarding women’s football, the focus was the difficulty of keeping the squad together and improving the infrastructure they have.”

Asked about the reaction to the partnership among part of the Corinthians fan base, the executive said he considered it natural for there to be differing opinions and said the issue was also discussed during the visit by the club’s board to the company.

“We saw the rejection as absolutely normal. And I’m not saying normal for a brand that works in a sensitive market, but in general. The rejection rate for any brand is around 15% to 20%. A soft drink brand will have a 12%, 13% rejection rate because people will say soda is bad for your health. Betting, same thing. Hamburgers, there’s cholesterol. So if you take any brand, it will have a rejection rate.”

He then commented on the company’s analysis of the reaction on social media.

“This was a topic in our conversation here with Corinthians this week. You have a Fatal Fans post with 50,000, 60,000 views. Out of those 60,000 views, it got 3,000 likes. Of those 3,000 likes, 70% are negative. So you bring that down to around 2,000 likes. Well, then does that mean 50,000 people saw it and agreed? Because let’s use that phrase: silence means consent. They saw it and did not speak out. And then there are supportive comments, critical comments, and juvenile comments, which we also put on the positive side. To be very honest, we were expecting even greater rejection. And that was the perception of the group that was here, not just mine.”

At the end of the interview, Ongaratto argued that content production platforms may expand their presence in sports in the coming years, citing the sector’s financial growth.

“It is not our role to make people change their minds, we never argue in that sense. What we do is bring information about this market. ‘Wow, do you have any idea how many people work with this? How much does the Fatal Fans market move?’ One day of revenue for OnlyFans, which is our competitor, pays Pogba’s annual contract. If OnlyFans wanted to pay off Corinthians’ debt, it would take six months of its revenue. In less than a year of revenue, it pays off that debt that some consider impossible to pay. So it is a market that is growing more and more. We have already had the wave of beer sponsorships, vehicle manufacturers, and now the betting wave is passing. Who’s to say the next wave won’t be content creation companies? We had OnlyFans offering a €40 million contract, around R$ 250 million, to Chelsea. So it is a market that is growing a lot today, people consume this product and, in the end, why not?”

If the renewal clause provided for in the contract is triggered, Fatal Fans could invest approximately R$ 31 million in Corinthians over the course of the partnership.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.