From Fortaleza to Betano: how betting took over Brazilian football | OneFootball

Brazilian football entered the betting-company era in January 2019. Fortaleza became the first club in the country to feature a company from the sector on its kit after signing a deal with NetBet for that season.

RTI Esporte Agency has learned that the partnership came a little over a month after the enactment of Law 13,756, in December 2018, which paved the way for the regulation of sports betting in Brazil.

The contract was valid until December 2019, but the amount was not disclosed. At the time, Fortaleza said it would receive monthly payments, while newspaper O Povo reported that NetBet would pay more than Alubar, another sponsor of the club.

Fortaleza did not have a share in users’ bets. In 2019, the first year of the partnership, the club won the Campeonato Cearense and the Copa do Nordeste. The Brazilian Série B had been won in 2018, before NetBet arrived.

Fortaleza’s first contract was far below today’s figures

At that time, betting companies still occupied smaller commercial properties. Fortaleza was a pioneer, but the model was still far from the contracts that would later transform the Brazilian football sponsorship market.

The expansion happened quickly. By the beginning of 2020, 13 of the 20 clubs in the Brazilian Série A already had some betting brand associated with their kit, although the companies still mainly occupied secondary spaces.

The change in scale came when the platforms also began competing for the main shirt sponsorship of top-flight clubs. After Leão do Pici, Atlético-MG was one of the clubs that helped consolidate this movement.

Betano changes the size of the contracts

Betano took over Atlético-MG’s main shirt sponsorship in January 2021. The initial agreement provided for a one-year contract, with an option to renew based on targets achieved. That deal was worth R$ 10 million per year.

The partnership coincided with a historic season for the club. In 2021, Atlético-MG won the Campeonato Mineiro, the Brasileirão, and the Copa do Brasil. The following year, it renewed its contract with Betano until the end of 2024, with an annual value above R$ 15 million.

Fluminense also entered this phase. In June 2021, it signed its first main shirt sponsorship deal with Betano for two years, worth approximately R$ 15 million in total. The deal was later renewed until June 2025.

During this cycle, the Tricolor das Laranjeiras won the Campeonato Carioca in 2022 and 2023, as well as the 2023 Copa Libertadores, the club’s first continental title, and the 2024 Recopa Sudamericana.

From millions to hundreds of millions

The evolution of the contracts shows the scale that betting companies have reached in Brazilian football. In 2024, for example, Corinthians had a deal worth R$ 120 million per year with Vai de Bet, while Flamengo received R$ 85 million per season from Pixbet.

The biggest leap came afterward. In 2025, Flamengo approved a contract with Betano worth a fixed R$ 268.5 million per season, valid until the end of 2028. The agreement provides for R$ 895 million over 40 months, not including any additional amounts.

The path started by Fortaleza in 2019 changed scale. The first contract had an undisclosed value and lasted one season. A few years later, betting companies began competing for the main shirt sponsorship in deals worth hundreds of millions of reais.

Finally, the story shows how a market that began experimentally on the kit of a club from Brazil’s Northeast became one of the main sources of commercial revenue in Brazilian football in recent years.

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