Ticketmaster, Morumbi rights: São Paulo chase signings, dodge ban | OneFootball

São Paulo’s board is going through days of intense behind-the-scenes pressure to balance the finances and secure investment capacity in the final stretch of the transfer window, which closes on September 11.

With the imminent need to meet coach Dorival Junior’s demands and strengthen the professional squad, as well as settle crucial financial issues and avoid serious punishments — such as the CBF transfer ban resulting from the delayed payment for the signing of defensive midfielder Djhordney from Novorizontino — the club’s top brass is seeking to seal multimillion-dollar commercial deals as a matter of urgency in the coming days.

Given the delicate economic situation under president Harry Massis’ administration, São Paulo’s board has advanced on two strategic fronts to obtain immediate financial relief for the club’s coffers.

Multimillion advance with Ticketmaster

In one of the moves to inject immediate liquidity into its cash flow, São Paulo struck a deal with Ticketmaster to manage ticket sales and the membership program for the next five years.

As AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR reported in advance at the end of July, the Massis administration is seeking R$ 140 million from its new partner. The Morumbi club had been requesting an advance from the new partnership in order to somewhat ease the financial crisis it has been facing. The amount requested by the board at the time was slightly higher, at R$ 250 million.

To be finalized, the change in ticketing provider still needs final approval from the club’s governance bodies, including review by the Deliberative Council.

The R$ 140 million pre-allocated by Tricolor is divided into two commercial fronts:

Membership and Ticketing: R$ 110 million made available as an advance on revenue, to be repaid by the club over the contract period with interest charges.

Box 29A: R$ 30 million related to the assignment of the commercial exploitation rights of the 595-seat corporate space located at MorumBIS.

Acceleration in the sale of Morumbi’s naming rights

At the same time, Tricolor resumed talks for the sale of Morumbi Stadium’s naming rights. With the current Mondelez (Morumbis) contract nearing its end and with no signs of an increase in the amounts (currently set at R$ 25 million per year), São Paulo is negotiating with major companies to raise revenue to around R$ 60 million per season through the club’s centenary year in 2030.

According to the outlet Globo Esporte, Tricolor has resumed talks with BYD, the Chinese electric car manufacturer. The objective, according to AVANTE MEU TRICOLOR, would involve an advance on the amounts from the new contract to be signed (with figures lower than those initially requested).

It is still surprising, since in July São Paulo itself said internally that negotiations with BYD were over.

The talks had initially been paused at the end of 2025 for compliance and governance adjustments by the automaker in the domestic market, but they resumed throughout the first half of 2026 and revolved around R$ 600 million for a ten-year contract.

However, the talks did not progress to definitive contractual terms, culminating in the electric vehicle maker’s decision to formally withdraw from the deal.

At the time, one of the points highlighted for the disagreement was the fact that BYD was interested in immediately taking over Morumbi’s naming rights, something São Paulo could not guarantee because it had already received advance payments from Mondelez under the current contract.

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