Série C club becomes an SAF, dreams of taking on Flamengo | OneFootball

Santa Cruz, from Pernambuco, aims for billion-dollar revenue to compete with Flamengo

Flamengo has become a benchmark for teams in Brazil, South America, and, why not, even the world. One club inspired by Mengão is Santa Cruz, from the Série C of the Brasileirão, which recently became a SAF. The team from Pernambuco aims for billion-dollar revenue to compete with the four-time Libertadores champion.

— When we talk about R$ 1 billion, imagine if I took R$ 1 billion and put it in Santa Cruz's account. We could compete head-to-head with Flamengo in a year. Because Flamengo generates R$ 1 billion per year. At Santa Cruz, what we are doing is this rehabilitation process. So that, in 15 years, Santa Cruz is among the 15 largest clubs in Brazil. That it is also among the 15 largest clubs in Brazil in annual revenue generation — said Iran Barbosa, the investor of Santa Cruz's SAF.

— The idea now is to call the creditors. We will hold a general assembly of creditors, proposing judicial recovery and the payment of these creditors over time. And thus, remove Santa Cruz's debt and transfer it to the investors. Once the creditors authorize, the creation of the SAF and the auction of this SAF, we will be ready to register. We hope to have this SAF registered by April — he added, in an interview with Globo Pernambuco.

IT WILL BE A LONG ROAD, WON'T IT, SANTA?

In summary, in 2025, Santa Cruz competed in the Série D of the Brasileirão. With a runner-up finish, the team, which included Thiago Galhardo, moved up to Série C. Now, with the SAF, the dream is to climb as quickly as possible to, who knows, compete with Flamengo.

IT'S NOT JUST A BILLION, YOU KNOW, SANTA CRUZ?

With player sales, six trophies, a packed Maracanã all year, and much more, Flamengo is expected to surpass the billion mark mentioned by the Santa Cruz official. Thus, the expectation is that the Rubro-Negro will actually reach two billion reais in revenue in 2025.

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