Corinthians stall on main sponsor deal, window closing soon | OneFootball

The Corinthians were anticipating taking advantage of the reduction in the termination fee with Esportes da Sorte, the club's current main sponsor, to formalize a possible sponsor change. However, the club's management has not yet advanced in negotiations and sees the available time diminishing in the search for a new partner.

As exclusively reported by Gazeta Esportiva in September this year, the contract with Esportes da Sorte has a kind of 'window' for both parties to reevaluate the partnership. The current termination fee is around R$ 100 million, but it drops to approximately R$ 40 million throughout October.

Aware of the opportunity opened by the contractual 'loophole', Corinthians launched a kind of "bidding" to seek interested parties to take over the main space on the black-and-white jersey. In other words, the club went to the market and established a competitive, open, and broad process where companies presented their offers, all in sealed envelopes.

Despite the proposals received, the report found that there has still been no progress in any negotiation for a possible change in Corinthians' main sponsor. The club's top management believes that the conditions offered are still below what the club intends.

One of the companies interested in sponsoring Timão was Betano, which even considered an offer to acquire the naming rights of the Neo Química Arena and become the main sponsor of the club. However, so far, the talks have not progressed.

Esportes da Sorte is the current main sponsor of Corinthians (Photo: Gustavo Vasco / Corinthians)

Opportunity nearing its end

Given the clause in the contract with Esportes da Sorte, Corinthians conducted the offer process through sealed envelopes throughout October, but has not succeeded so far. Therefore, the management has only eight more days to take advantage of the reduced termination fee this year.

After October, the termination fee with the betting company returns to approach the initial contract amount (R$ 100 million). Corinthians signed with Esportes da Sorte in July 2024, during Augusto Melo's management, and established a three-year agreement.

Joint change with Arena naming rights

The club's top management sees an opportunity to renegotiate not only the club's main sponsorship but also the naming rights of the Neo Química Arena. As anticipated by Gazeta Esportiva, Corinthians was considering the possibility of closing a deal for a potential joint sale of the stadium's naming rights and the main sponsor space on the team's jersey.

From September 1st this year, a significant opportunity opened for changing the naming rights of the black-and-white stadium. The amount to be paid in a possible contract termination dropped from R$ 123.250 million to around R$ 70 million.

Corinthians, therefore, is interested in renegotiating the naming rights of the Neo Química Arena, which has belonged to Hypera Pharma since 2020. The company committed to transferring R$ 300 million for a 20-year agreement, an amount that president Osmar Stabile believes is below current market standards.

In a recent interview, Osmar Stabile avoided setting a deadline for resolving the negotiations. However, the club's management is confident that they can reach a new agreement for the naming rights by the end of this year.

(Photo: José Manoel Idalgo/Corinthians)

Upcoming Corinthians matches

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