In the latest interactive monthly data report, SportBusiness Media analyses the media-rights landscape in Brazil.
Further detail on the deals covered in this interactive data report is available with our Rights Tracker tool – click here for more information.
Market value and headlines
SportBusiness Media estimates that in 2020 the Brazilian media-rights market was valued at about $810m (€660m) after the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, accounting about 1.8 per cent of the total global sports rights market. The country lost its position in the top ten of the most valuable markets of 2020 to Australia, strongly penalized by the pandemic which reduced the Brazilian market’s total value by about 22 per cent.
Media conglomerates Globo, Bandeirantes and Turner are among the most important broadcasters in Brazil, a market where rights are often sold separately in other Latin American territories. Rights in the rest of the region are usually sold in a single package. This includes South America, Central America and Mexico unless otherwise stated.
The market has previously had healthy competition for rights due to the presence of several sports broadcasters. However, the Brazilian market has experienced a slowing of growth over the past two years due to various factors. First, the merger of Fox Sports and ESPN’s Brazilian arms has further consolidated the country’s sports broadcast market and has made it more difficult for international rights-holders to extract value. Second, the depreciation of the Brazilian real (in which broadcasters book their revenue) to the US dollar (in which broadcasters pay for the rights) has made many deals too expensive for broadcasters. The Covid-19 pandemic aggravated the situation, with many broadcasters deciding to terminate their contracts early.
Domestic properties
The Brazilian Série A is the most valuable property in the country, accounting for about 41 per cent of the total Brazilian sports media rights market. Brazilian clubs sell rights to their matches individually, and segment rights by free-to-air, pay-television and pay-per-view. All the clubs agreed to new domestic deals in 2018 after breaking away from a collective agreement. Globo acquired pay-per-view rights to 19 clubs, free-to-air rights to all 20 clubs and pay-television rights to 13 clubs. Turner acquired pay-television rights to the remaining seven clubs. The only club without a pay-per-view deal with Globo is Athletico Paranaense. The club refused to sign a pay-per-view deal with the broadcaster and decided to sign a pay-per-view deal with streaming platform LiveMode.
The total sum of the new deals represents an increase in value of about 37 per cent on the league’s previous deal from 2016 to 2018. In 2020, the league’s media-rights value was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, with a total reduction in the annual value estimated at around ten per cent.
Globo also holds rights to the Copa do Brasil, the country’s knock-out cup competition. In the current cycle, Globo acquired exclusive rights, from 2018 to 2022.
The current deal represents a three-fold increase on its previous value which was driven by competition from Turner. It is understood Turner made an unsolicited offer to the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF), but the CBF preferred to renew with Globo in direct talks. Globo previously held rights, from 2015 to 2017.
Click on each property logo to filter historical media-rights value information.
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International Properties
International properties are also extremely valuable in Brazil. Globo holds rights to both the Fifa World Cup and the Olympic Games. For the former, Globo acquired rights to four editions of the tournament until 2030. In June 2020, Globo was handed an injunction against Fifa to withhold a $90m broadcast rights payment, arguing that its financial situation has been impacted heavily by the Covid-19 pandemic. For the latter, Globo holds rights to all editions from 2018 to 2032.
The Conmebol Copa Libertadores is also extremely valuable in Brazil, although its value was drastically cut in 2020. In 2018, Globo had acquired free-to-air and pay-television rights to the Copa Libertadores, from 2019 to 2022. Pay-television broadcaster Fox Sports Latin America and social media platform Facebook acquired other rights.
However, Globo cancelled its contract for both packages of rights in August 2020, claiming the exchange rate between the Brazilian real and US dollar had made the deal significantly more onerous. Thus, Conmebol agreed to a new deal with commercial broadcaster SBT for the free-to-air rights, for the three seasons from 2020 to 2022. Conmebol decided to retain pay-television rights and broadcast matches on a newly launched channel, Conmebol TV.
Pan-regional sports broadcaster ESPN holds rights to the English Premier League in a three-season deal, from 2019 to 2022. In September 2019, streaming platform DAZN acquired from ESPN two live Premier League matches per matchweek, plus clips and highlights rights for all matches, in the 2019-22 cycle.
DAZN also held rights to two other European leagues in Brazil until the beginning of the 2020-21 season: Italian Serie A and French Ligue 1. For the former, DAZN acquired exclusive rights from the 15th matchday of the 2018-19 season until the end of the 2020-21 season. The OTT platform cancelled its Serie A contract in late July, and the rights to Serie A were bought by Turner, Globo and Bandeirantes. DAZN also held rights to Ligue 1 in a three-season deal, from 2018-19 to 2020-21. Similarly to Serie A, the rights were dropped in July 2020 and were picked by digital streaming platform OneFootball for the 2020-21 season.
The German Bundesliga and Spanish LaLiga also had several difficulties in extracting value from the Brazilian market. The former agreed to a three-season deal with OneFootball until 2022-23 for a nominal fee while the latter agreed its renewal with ESPN at the eleventh hour before the new season began.
A deal for rights to Formula 1 for the upcoming season is still to be agreed. In September 2020, Brazil-based motorsports investment business Rio Motorsports acquired the exclusive broadcast rights to F1 in a five-season cycle, starting in 2021. However, at the end of 2020, the deal fell through, and incumbent Globo is now reported to be the leading contender to acquire the rights for next season.
Click on each property logo to filter historical media-rights value information.
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Rise and fall of DAZN
In 2019, DAZN aggressively entered Brazil by acquiring a host of significant soccer properties. The broadcaster focused on top international properties like Serie A, Ligue 1 and Major League Soccer.
DAZN also acquired rights to some lower-tier domestic properties such as the Conmebol Copa Sudamericana and the Brazilian Série C. For the former, DAZN agreed to a four-year deal, from 2019 to 2022, agreed directly with Conmebol. For Série C, DAZN acquired rights across free-to-air television, pay-television and internet platforms.
After just one year, in 2020, DAZN started to pull out of the Brazilian market. The broadcaster has been hit hard by the pandemic and announced the termination of some of its most significant deals in the country. In 2020, it ended its contracts for Serie A and Ligue 1, which were set to expire at the end of the 2020-21 season. DAZN also cancelled its exclusive deal for the Copa Sudamericana and its domestic deal for the Paranaense State Championship.
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